SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


STREET-CLEANING 


AND  THE  DISPOSAL  OF  A  CITY'S 
WAS  1  ES:  METHODS  AND  RESULTS 
AND  THE  EFFECT  UPON  PUB- 
LIC HEALTH,  PUBLIC  MORALS, 
AND     MUNICIPAL  PROSPERITY 


STREET-CLEANING 


AND  THE  DISPOSAL  OF  A  CITY'S 
WASTES:  METHODS  AND  RESULTS 
AND  THE  EFFECT  UPON  PUBLIC 
HEALTH,  PUBLIC  MORALS,  AND 
MUNICIPAL  PROSPERITY      J*  0* 


BY 

GEORGE  E.  WARING,  JR., 

COMMISSIONER  OF  STREET-CLEANING  IN  THE 
CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 


NEW  YORK 
DOUBLEDAY  &  McCLURE  CO. 
1899 


Copy  right,  1897,  by 

DOUBLEDAY  &  McCLURE 


THIS   BOOK    IS  DEDICATED 
TO 

WILLIAM  L.  STRONG 

MAYOR   OF   NEW  YORK 
TO   WHOSE   EARNEST   SUPPORT   SUCCESS   IN    MY  DEPARTMENT 
HAS   BEEN   SO   LARGELY  DUE 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

L   History   1 

II.  Conditions  under  Recent  Administrations      .      .  6 

III.  The  Effect  of  Political  Control  as  Shown  by  the 

Condition  of  the  Department  at  the  Beginning 

of  the  Present  Administration     ....  12 

IV.  The  Reorganization  of  the  Force    .      .      .      .  19 

V.  Street-sweeping   37 

VI.  Carting   43 

VII.  Final  Disposition  of  Garbage   47 

VIII.  Final  Disposition  of  Street-sweepings  and  Ashes   .  68 

IX.  Final  Disposition  of  Paper  and  Rubbish  .      .  74 

X.  Stock  and  Plant   81 

By  Major  H.  C.  Cushing,  Assistant  Superintendent. 

XL    The  Removal  of  Snow      ......  91 

By  H.  L.  Stidham,  Snow-inspector. 

XII.   Street-railroads  and  Pavements  in  New  York       .  110 
XHL   Street-cleaning  in  Europe:  A  Report  of  Observa- 
tions Made  in  the  Summer  of  1896       .      .  .117 

XIV.  The  Juvenile  Street-cleaning  Leagues   .      .  .177 

By  David  Willard,  D.  S.  C,  Supervisor. 

XV.  Conclusion   187 

Appendix   193 

Index   225 

vii  * 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


The  Annual  Parade    ........  3 

In  Front  of  No.  9  Varick  Place,  March  17,  1893     between  pp.  6,  7 
The  Same  Street,  May  29,  1895   ....   between  pp.  6,  7 

Morton   Street,  Corner  of  Bedford,  Looking  toward 

Bleecker  Street,  March  17,  1893  .  .  .  between  pp.  8,  9 
The  Same  Street,  May  29,  1895    ....   between  pp.  8,  9 

A  Section  Foreman  39 

A  Sweeper  with  his  Bag-carrier  and  Tools       ...  40 

Sweepers'  Tools  41 

Near  the  Light-ship,  Sandy  Hook.    Unloading  Deck-scows 

with  Forks  69 

A  Barney  Dumper  at  Sea,  with  its  Tug  ....  70 
The  Delehanty  Self-propelling  Automatic  Dumping-boat 

"Cinderella"  71 

Loading  a  Scow  with  Refuse  75 

Sorting  the  Rags  and  Other  Articles  of  Value  under  the 

Old-fashioned  Dumping-board  76 

Travbling-belt  and  the  Picking-gang  ....  77 
The  Belt  Rising  to  the  Feed-door  of  the  Furnace  .  .  78 
Streets  Cleaned  of  Snow  in  Average  Storm,  Prior  to  1895  96 
Streets  Cleaned  of  Snow,  February  12  to  February  16, 1897  99 
Figs.  1-9,  Diagrams  of  Pavement  and  Railroad-track  111-115 
Comparison  of  Formel  with  Present  Removal  of  Snow      .  191 

ix 


CHAPTER  I 


HISTORY 

UP  to  1881  the  cleaning  of  the  streets  of  New  York 
was  under  the  charge  of  a  bureau  of  the  Police 
Department.  There  is  little  to  be  found  in  the 
city's  records  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  work  was 
done,  but  it  was  evidently  very  unsatisfactory  to  the 
people. 

In  1881  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  was  created 
by  law,  and  Mr.  James  S.  Coleman  was  made  the  first 
commissioner,  being  appointed  by  the  mayor,  with  the 
approval  of  the  Board  of  Health.  He  held  the  office  for 
nearly  nine  years.  In  1882  he  let  out  the  cleaning  of 
the  streets  south  of  Fourteenth  Street  to  contractors, 
doing  the  work  north  of  that  street  with  his  own  forces.  * 
The  contract  system  was  continued  through  nearly  his 
whole  term.    He  said: 

"  Broadway  below  Fourteenth  Street  is  not  included  in 
the  contractors'  districts.  Nominally  it  is  cleaned  partly 
by  the  city  and  partly  by  the  Broadway  and  Seventh 
Avenue  Railroad  Company,  the  charter  of  the  latter 
obliging  it  to  clean  that  portion  of  the  roadway  which 

1  * 


2 


STREET-CLEANING 


lies  between  the  car-tracks  and  within  two  feet  of  them 
on  either  side;  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  has 
charge  of  the  remainder.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however, 
the  whole  work  is  done  under  a  special  agreement 
whereby  the  possibly  conflicting  and  complicated  double 
work  by  the  railroad  company  and  the  department  is 
avoided."    This  contract  is  still  maintained. 

In  Mr.  Coleman's  report  of  1889  he  speaks  of  numerous 
aggravating  impediments  to  good  work,  many  of  which 
still  exist.  Laws  and  ordinances  seemed  to  have  had  no 
effect  on  the  people.  Mr.  Coleman  says:  "  A  good  deal 
of  time  might  be  employed  in  the  enumeration  of  cul- 
pable acts  and  shameful  delinquencies  on  the  part  of  the 
merchants  and  householders.  It  has  frequently  happened 
that  the  street-sweeping  machine  has  passed  down  the 
street,  and  before  it  has  reached  the  nearest  corner  men 
and  women  have  been  seen  deliberately  emptying  recep- 
tacles full  of  refuse  and  rubbish  from  their  shops  or 
residences  upon  the  pavements  just  swept.  Handbills 
and  other  printed  matter  distributed  to  pedestrians  were 
thrown  on  the  sidewalk  or  street.  .  .  .  Such  things  were 
not  done,  perhaps,  because  the  offenders  had  resolved 
to  be  blameworthy  and  contemptuous,  but  because  they 
were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  indifference  to  the  public 
welfare  and  had  long  been  accustomed  to  do  such  things 
without  fear  of  the  law."  He  estimated  that  there  were 
"  close  to  fifty  thousand  "  vehicles  in  the  streets,  while 
the  law  regulating  the  deposit  of  building-material  ;.nd 
rubbish  was  notoriously  disregarded.  Gutters  were  ob- 
structed by  such  material,  stopping  flowage  and  causing 
pools  of  stagnant  water  to  stand  on  the  street. 

Mr.  Horace  Loomis  held  the  office  of  commissioner 
from  January  17,  1890,  until  April  4  of  the  same  year, 


4 


STREET-CLEANING 


when  Mr.  Hans  S.  Beattie  was  appointed.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Thomas  S.  Brennan,  September  17,  1891. 

In  1892  the  department  was  entirely  reorganized,  as 
the  result  of  a  careful  investigation  of  the  whole  subject 
made  by  a  committee  appointed  by  Mayor  Grant.  Mr. 
Brennan  was  reappointed  under  this  law.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  William  S.  Andrews,  July  21,  1893,  and  he 
by  the  writer,  January  15,  1895. 

The  report  of  Mayor  Grant's  committee  is  very  full 
and  instructive.  It  shows  practically  that  the  depart- 
ment was  not  efficiently  managed,  and  gives  ample  details 
as  to  its  defects  The  committee  reached  the  following 
general  conclusion:  "  With  good  labor,  skilfully  organized 
and  properly  superintended,  the  streets  can  unques- 
tionably be  kept  clean.  With  labor  employed  on  the 
present  methods,  no  organization,  however  skilful,  and 
no  superintendence,  however  faithful,  can  produce  en- 
tirely satisfactory  results." 

After  reciting  the  laws  and  ordinances,  the  committee 
expressed  its  opinion  that  New  York  should  be  one  of 
the  cleanest  cities  in  the  world.  "  Practically  it  is  one 
of  the  dirtiest,  because  they  are  so  habitually  violated 
and  so  feebly  enforced  as  to  become  dead  letters." 

Concerning  the  cost  of  the  work  it  is  said  that  "  this 
sum  of  more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  of  dollars, 
however,  b  =  no  means  represents  the  total  amount  ex- 
pended for  street-cleaning  and  removing  refuse.  It  is 
well  known  that  many  householders,  in  order  to  secure 
clean  streets  in  front  of  their  premises,  employ  private 
street-cleaners;  others  employ  private  ashmen  to  take 
their  ash-barrels  from  within  the  gate  under  the  stoop, 
so  as  to  avoid  putting  the  ashes  out  in  front  of  the 
house;  and  still  others  fee  the  public  ashman  to  perform 


HISTORY 


5 


this  service— a  practice  which,  it  is  stated,  makes  the 
position  of  ashman  on  certain  routes  much  sought  after." 

This  committee  set  forth  with  emphasis  the  serious 
objections  to  the  universal  practice  of  standing  trucks 
in  the  streets. 

It  also  conducted  an  experiment  in  the  sweeping  of  a 
certain  district  by  the  "  block  system."  This  portion  of 
its  report  is  worthy  of  very  careful  consideration,  be- 
cause it  resulted  in  the  adoption  of  the  system  now  in 
vogue. 

The  reports  of  Commissioner  Coleman  and  of  Mayor 
Grant's  committee  are  copiously  quoted  in  the  Appendix, 
and  those  readers  who  are  interested  in  anything  like  a 
careful  study  of  the  subject  will  find  reference  thereto 
most  important. 

The  more  recent  history  of  the  department  and  its 
operations  relates  to  the  conditions  existing  immediately 
prior  to  the  inauguration  of  Mayor  Strong  and  to  what 
it  has  since  done.  This  is  given  in  the  following  chap- 
ters relating  to  specific  branches  of  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  II 


CONDITIONS  UNDER  RECENT  ADMINISTRATIONS 

HAVING  thus  stated  the  prominent  historical  facts 
in  connection  with  the  Department  of  Street- 
Cleaning  of  New  York,  attention  will  now  be 
given  to  the  conditions  which  obtained  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  new  law  of  1892,  this  being  during 
the  last  fourteen  months  of  the  administration  of  Com- 
missioner Brennan  and  all  of  that  of  Commissioner 
Andrews,  or  from  May  9,  1892,  to  January  15,  1895, 
when  the  control  of  the  work  fell  to  me. 

The  very  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  streets,  and 
the  demoralization  of  the  department  at  that  time,  were, 
and  still  are,  matters  of  notoriety.  The  character  and 
the  causes  of  this  condition  are  sufficiently  shown  in  the 
preceding  chapter. 

The  kernel  of  it  all  lies  in  the  fact,  especially  set  forth 
by  Commissioner  Beattie,  that  men  were  not  employed 
for  work  in  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  because 
they  were  suitable  for  the  work,  but  because  their  ap- 
pointment was  urged  by  politicians  and  for  political 
reasons. 

6 


a 


FORMER  CONDITIONS 


7 


The  necessary  result  of  such  a  state  of  affairs  appeared 
very  fully  in  the  illustrated  description  of  the  condition 
of  the  streets,  and  of  the  degree  of  their  encumbrance 
and  their  neglect,  made  by  a  committee  of  the  City  Club, 
with  a  view  to  securing  the  removal  of  Commissioner 
Brennan  for  neglect  of  duty. 

A  large  number  of  photographs  were  taken,  showing 
the  condition  of  the  streets  in  March,  1893,  and  affidavits 
were  published,  describing  the  manner  in  which  the  work 
of  street-cleaning  was  done  and  neglected. 

Two  of  these  are  reproduced  here,  in  contrast  with  pho- 
tographs of  the  identical  spots  taken  the  end  of  May,  1895. 

Such  illustrative  contrasts  might  be  duplicated  for 
the  entire  collection  of  the  City  Club,  for  every  block  in 
New  York  is  now  as  clean  as  those  shown  here.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  streets  as  photographed  in  1893  was  further 
set  forth  in  the  accompanying  affidavits,  which  testify 
to  the  inefficiency  of  the  department  at  that  time. 
These  affidavits  are  very  voluminous,  and  they  relate  to 
some  hundreds  of  different  points. 

The  photographs  were  taken  at  a  time  when  the 
snow  and  ice  had  not  entirely  melted,  and  due  allowance 
is  to  be  made  for  this. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  descriptions  set  forth 
in  the  affidavits: 

"  Opposite  No.  379  [East  Fourth  Street]  there  was  about 
a  ton  of  ashes,  garbage,  old  cloth,  tin  cans,  and  five  old 
barrels.  ...  In  front  of  Nos.  344  and  346  there  were 
seven  barrels,  refuse  overflowing  all  over  the  sidewalks. 
...  The  general  condition  of  this  street  was  bad.  I 
have  enumerated  the  most  filthy  places;  but  all  along 
the  street  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  the  dumping- 
ground  of  the  whole  ward. 


8 


STREET-CLEANING 


"This  street  [Pitt  Street]  was  also  very  dirty;  mud, 
ashes,  filth,  and  garbage  lay  all  over  it  to  the  depth  of 
about  eight  inches. 

"  On  Ludlow  Street,  from  the  corner  of  Stanton,  the 
street  is  very  filthy.  Trucks,  wagons,  and  carts  were 
standing  in  filth  of  every  kind  from  one  to  two  feet  deep, 
and  the  street  was  covered  with  old  paper,  rags,  ashes, 
garbage,  straw,  and  general  refuse. 

"  On  the  west  side  of  Thompson  Street,  from  Houston 
Street  north,  were  piles  of  snow,  ice,  mud,  garbage,  and 
general  filth,  from  three  to  four  feet  high,  on  which 
trucks  and  wagons  were  piled.  Opposite  nearly  every 
door  there  were  overflowing  barrels  of  refuse.  On 
Sullivan  Street,  from  Houston  to  Bleecker,  barrels  of 
ashes  and  garbage  were  in  front  of  nearly  every  door; 
and  along  the  side  of  the  street  piles  of  garbage,  old 
rags,  tins,  oyster-shells,  old  paper,  and  general  refuse, 
from  two  to  four  feet  high,  from  which  a  bad  stench 
arose. 

"  On  Bedford  Street,  in  front  of  No.  139,  were  two 
barrels  of  refuse  on  the  sidewalk,  and  about  three  barrels 
more  dumped  around  them.  .  .  .  This  street  was  dirty  all 
along.    I  have  specified  the  worst  places  only. 

"  A  man  named  Calder,  of  688  Washington  Street, 
volunteered  the  information  that  the  ashman  had  not 
been  there  for  six  weeks. 

"The  whole  block  [in  Greenwich  Street]  was  in  as 
bad  a  condition  throughout,  and  twenty-one  trucks  were 
stationed  upon  it.  In  No.  395  a  woman  informed  me 
that  ashes  had  only  been  taken  away  twice  in  two  weeks. 
The  box  in  front  of  this  house  has  the  refuse  of  four 
houses  dumped  into  it,  and  she  said  it  should  be  emptied 
at  least  three  times  a  week  to  keep  the  refuse  from  being 


MORTON  STREET,  CORNER  OP  BEDFORD,  LOOKING  TOWARD  BLEECKER  STREET, 
MARCH  17,  1893. 


€ 


FORMER  CONDITIONS 


9 


scattered  over  the  walk.  At  this  time  a  heap  of  ashes 
lay  in  front  of  the  house  on  the  street. 

"  There  was  a  pile  of  garbage  in  front  of  Van  Holten 
&  Bay's  store  at  500  Ninth  Avenue.  A  clerk  in  the  store 
said  that  people  had  to  dump  the  garbage  in  the  gutters, 
because  the  carts  of  the  Street-Cleaning  Department  did 
not  take  it  away.  He  could  not  remember  the  last  time 
the  block  was  cleaned." 

I  remember,  as  a  characteristic  incident,  that  a  few 
days  after  my  appointment  I  drove  down-town  with  my 
wife,  and  passed  through  Elizabeth  Street,  which  was  no 
worse  than  most  other  obscure  streets  of  the  city.  She 
begged  me  to  resign  at  once  and  go  back  to  Newport, 
saying,  "It  is  utterly  hopeless.  You  surely  can  never 
clean  Elizabeth  Street;  you  will  only  disgrace  yourself 
by  trying  to  do  it."  This  street  was  lined  on  both  sides 
at  midday  with  unharnessed  trucks;  the  sidewalks  were 
thick  with  overflowing  ash  and  garbage  receptacles;  black 
mud  was  several  inches  deep  in  the  street,  and  the  side- 
walks themselves  were  slimy  with  the  filth  tracked  on  to 
them  from  the  crossings.  The  people  had  a  squalid  and 
hopeless  air,  and  the  outlook  was  certainly  very  dis- 
couraging. The  same  condition  prevailed  throughout 
the  more  densely  peopled  quarters,  and  even  in  the 
relatively  quiet  and  respectable  streets  running  from 
Bleecker  Street  toward  the  North  River  there  was  little 
evidence  that  systematic  cleaning  had  been  carried  on 
for  a  long  time. 

I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  methods  prevailing  under 
the  predecessors  of  Commissioner  Andrews;  but  I  do 
know  that  he  had  done  the  best  that  he  could,  under  his 
limitations,  to  improve  the  situation.  The  department 
still  feels,  and  always  will  feel,  the  influence  of  his  in- 


10 


STREET-CLEANING 


telligence  and  zeal  in  the  theoretical  part  of  his  work. 
He  secured  the  passage  of  several  amendments  to  the 
law  organizing  the  department  which  are  of  the  greatest 
value— amendments  which  could  be  obtained  now  only 
by  an  influential  Republican  politician,  and  without  which 
good  work  would  be  almost  impossible. 

He  told  me  during  my  tutelage  many  things  confirma- 
tory of  what  is  said  in  the  following  chapter  as  to  the 
effect  of  political  control.  He  had  been  promised  abso- 
lute independence  in  the  matter  of  appointments  and 
dismissals.  He  very  early  found  it  necessary  to  dismiss 
an  important  member  of  the  clerical  force,  whose  habits 
made  him  practically  worthless.  He  immediately  felt 
the  weight  of  a  higher  authority,  and  was  told,  "  So-and- 
so  is  my  man;  you  must  take  him  back."  He  did  take 
him  back,  and  he  took  a  back  seat  from  that  time  for- 
ward. I  have  recently  been  told  by  a  stable  foreman, 
who  is  a  "  hold-over  from  Tammany  times,"  and  who  is  a 
most  excellent  and  efficient  officer,  that  it  was  absolutely 
impossible  to  get  work  properly  done  under  the  old  re- 
gime. For  example,  a  man  had  been  sent  to  him  to  be 
put  "  on  the  floor,"  meaning  that  he  was  to  be  used  as  a 
general  utility  man  about  the  stable.  The  foreman  found 
him  inefficient,  and  told  him  he  must  go  to  work.  The 
man  replied,  "I  did  n't  come  here  to  work."  He  was 
reported  at  once  for  dismissal,  and  was  suspended.  He 
returned  the  next  day,  reinstated  and  irremovable. 

I  could  give  a  hundred  instances  of  similar  cases,  but 
the  above  are  sufficient.  Reasoning  backward,  one  could 
now  reconstruct,  by  restoring  the  former  methods,  the 
same  horrible  condition  of  the  streets  that  then  existed. 
That  condition  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  stultify- 
ing of  the  efforts  of  any  commissioner  by  the  superior 


FORMER  COXDITIONS 


11 


power  of  ward  politicians  and  their  superiors.  The 
streets  of  the  city  are  now  measurably  clean— cleaner 
than  they  have  ever  been  before;  but  if  the  hands  of  the 
commissioner  and  his  staff  were  tied  by  the  absolute 
destruction  of  discipline  which  political  control  must  give, 
they  would  relapse  into  their  former  condition  within 
three  months. 

The  records  show  that  at  the  end  of  Commissioner 
Andrews's  term  the  uniformed  force  consisted  of  the 
following:  1  general  superintendent,  1  assistant  superin- 
tendent, 11  district  superintendents,  58  foremen,  1275 
sweepers,  908  drivers.  As  to  the  plant,  there  were  684 
horses,  619  carts  and  trucks,  87  sprinkling-wagons,  and 
76  sweeping-machines. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  EFFECT  OF  POLITICAL  CONTROL  AS  SHOWN  BY  THE 
CONDITION  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  AT  THE  BEGINNING 
OF  THE  PRESENT  ADMINISTRATION 

^  I  ^HE  tendency  to  ascribe  former  defects  of  the 


Department  of  Street-Cleaning  in  New  York  City 


A  to  one  political  party,  as  such,  seems  to  me  not 
to  be  fair.  I  had  this  prevailing  tendency  myself  when 
I  first  took  office;  but  experience  has  taught  me  that  it 
was  a  question,  not  of  party,  but  of  politics.  I  have  no 
reason  now  to  suppose  that  matters  would  have  been 
in  any  wise  better  had  the  other  party  been  in  control  of 
the  city  government.  Whatever  may  be  the  differences 
of  their  members  in  avocation  or  in  attainments,  when 
it  is  a  question  of  the  government  of  the  city  by  the 
spoilsmen  ^or  the  party,  there  is  nothing  to  choose  be- 
tween political  organizations. 

I  am,  to  this  extent,  no  more  an  anti-Tammany  man 
than  I  should  be  an  anti-Republican  man  if  Republicans 
had  brought  about  the  same  defects  had  their  party  been 
in  power.  In  describing  the  former  condition  of  the 
streets  and  of  the  department,  I  am  making  no  criticism 


12 


POLITICAL  CONTROL 


13 


of  Tammany  Hall,  only  of  politics  as  the  ruling  factor  in 
city  government.  The  improved  present  condition  could 
not  have  been  brought  about  without  an  absolute  disre- 
gard of  all  political  considerations  in  the  management  of 
the  business.  My  work  has  succeeded  because  it  has 
been  done  for  its  own  sake  alone.  The  same  success 
awaits  any  competent  man  who  will  manage  any  other  of 
the  city  departments  on  the  same  principle. 

If  the  whole  city  is  ever  so  managed  the  people  will  be 
glad. 

Whatever  the  cause,  no  one  will  now  question  that  the 
former  condition  of  the  streets  was  bad— very  bad.  No 
one  can  question  the  truth  of  the  following  description: 

Before  1895  the  streets  were  almost  universally  in  a 
filthy  state.  In  wet  weather  they  were  covered  with 
slime,  and  in  dry  weather  the  air  was  filled  with  dust. 
Artificial  sprinkling  in  summer  converted  the  dust  into 
mud,  and  the  drying  winds  changed  the  mud  to  powder. 
Rubbish  of  all  kinds,  garbage,  and  ashes  lay  neglected 
in  the  streets,  and  in  the  hot  weather  the  city  stank  with 
the  emanations  of  putrefying  organic  matter.  It  was 
not  always  possible  to  see  the  pavement,  because  of  the 
dirt  that  covered  it.  One  expert,  a  former  contractor 
of  street-cleaning,  told  me  that  West  Broadway  could 
not  be  cleaned,  because  it  was  so  coated  with  grease 
from  wagon-axles;  it  was  really  coated  with  slimy  mud.  / 
The  sewer  inlets  were  clogged  with  refuse.  Dirty  paper 
was  prevalent  everywhere,  and  black  rottenness  was  seen 
and  smelled  on  every  hand. 

The  practice  of  standing  unharnessed  trucks  and 
wagons  in  the  public  streets  was  well-nigh  universal  in 
all  except  the  main  thoroughfares  and  the  better  resi- 
dence districts.    The  Board  of  Health  made  an  enumera- 


14 


STREET-CLEANING 


tion  of  vehicles  so  standing  on  Sunday,  counting  twenty- 
five  thousand  on  a  portion  of  one  side  of  the  city;  they 
reached  the  conclusion  that  there  were  in  all  more  than 
sixty  thousand.  These  trucks  not  only  restricted  traffic 
and  made  complete  street-cleaning  practically  impossible, 
but  they  were  harbors  of  vice  and  crime.  Thieves  and 
highwaymen  made  them  their  dens,  toughs  caroused  in 
them,  both  sexes  resorted  to  them,  and  they  were  used 
for  the  vilest  purposes,  until  they  became,  both  figura- 
tively and  literally,  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  people. 
In  the  crowded  districts  they  were  a  veritable  nocturnal 
hell.  Against  all  this  the  poor  people  were  powerless  to 
get  relief.  The  highest  city  officials,  after  feeble  at- 
tempts at  removal,  declared  that  New  York  was  so 
peculiarly  constructed  (having  no  alleys  through  which 
the  rear  of  the  lots  could  be  reached)  that  its  commerce 
could  not  be  carried  on  unless  this  privilege  wTere  given 
to  its  truckmen;  in  short,  the  removal  of  the  trucks  was 
"  an  impossibility." 

There  was  also  some  peculiarity  about  New  York  which 
made  it  inevitable  that  it  should  have  dirty  streets. 
Other  towns  might  be  clean,  but  not  this  one.  Such 
civic  pride  as  existed  had  to  admit  these  two  unfortunate 
drawbacks. 

The  average  annual  death-rate  from  1882  to  1894,  in- 
clusive, was  26.78  per  thousand  persons  living— equal  to 
more  than  fifty  thousand  deaths  in  the  year  on  the  basis 
of  the  present  population.  Eye  and  throat  diseases  due 
to  dust,  and  especially  to  putrid  dust,  were  rife.  No 
effort  was  made  to  remove  snow  for  the  comfort  of  the 
people,  only  for  the  convenience  of  traffic.  But  little 
more  than  twenty  miles  of  streets  were  cleared  after  a 


POLITICAL  CONTROL 


16 


snow-storm.  As  a  result,  the  people,  especially  the 
poorer  people  who  could  not  change  their  wet  clothing 
and  could  not  buy  rubber  shoes,  suffered  to  an  alarming 
degree  from  colds  and  their  results. 

The  department  itself  was  such  as  its  work  would  in- 
dicate. Like  all  large  bodies  of  men  engaged  in  any 
stated  duty,  its  force  had  much  good  material,  but  it  was 
mainly  material  gone  to  waste  for  lack  of  proper  control. 
It  was  hardly  an  organization;  there  was  no  spirit  in  it; 
few  of  its  members  felt  secure  in  their  positions;  no 
sweeper  who  was  not  an  unusually  powerful  political 
worker  knew  at  what  moment  the  politician  who  had 
got  him  his  place  would  have  him  turned  out  to  make 
room  for  another.  A  ledger  account  of  patronage  was 
kept  with  each  Assemb'y  district,  and  district  leaders 
are  even  said  to  have  had  practically  full  control  of  the 
debit  and  credit  columns,  so  that  they  could  deposit  a 
dismissal  and  check  out  an  appointment  at  will.  Useful 
service  can  be  had  from  no  force  thus  controlled. 

Nearly  every  man  in  the  department  was  assessed  for 
the  political  fund.  I  have  seen  an  order,  signed  by  one 
of  my  predecessors,  practically  directing  every  sweeper 
and  driver  to  pay  to  the  chief  clerk  a  certain  percentage 
of  each  week's  pay.  This  was  to  be  used  for  "  political n 
purposes— how  or  by  whom  or  for  whom  was  not  stated. 
The  working-men  of  the  force  generally  were  in  a  miser- 
able condition;  they  were  the  objects  of  ridicule  and 
scorn,  and  they  knew  it.  They  did  such  work  as  they 
were  compelled  to  do,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  did  no  more. 
Nominally,  they  wore  a  uniform,  but  they  were  not  dis- 
tinguished by  it.  The  district  superintendents  and 
foremen,  as  a  rule,  either  could  not  exercise  effective 


16 


STREET-CLEANING 


control  over  their  men,  or  they  did  not  take  the  trouble 
to  do  so.  Nothing  was  done  with  a  will ;  the  organiza- 
tion, as  a  whole,  was  a  slouch. 

The  stock  and  plant  were  what  they  might  have  been 
expected  to  be  under  these  conditions.  In  some  of  the 
stables  there  was  not  even  an  extra  set  of  cart-harness, 
and  some  that  were  in  use  were  mended  by  the  drivers, 
on  the  streets,  with  bits  of  wire  and  string.  Disorder 
and  demoralization  were  the  rule. 

This  is  a  severe  condemnation  of  a  department  that 
spent  $2,366,419.49  in  a  year  (in  1894),  as  against  $2,776,- 
749.31  in  1896,  and  did  ineffective  work  with  it;  but  it  is 
just.  The  condition  of  the  streets,  of  the  force,  and  of 
the  stock  was  the  fault  of  no  man  and  of  no  set  of  men. 
It  was  the  fault  of  the  system.  The  department  was 
throttled  by  partizan  control— so  throttled  it  could 
neither  do  good  work,  command  its  own  respect  and  that 
of  the  public,  nor  maintain  its  material  in  good  order. 
It  was  run  as  an  adjunct  of  a  political  organization.  In 
that  capacity  it  was  a  marked  success.  It  paid  fat  trib- 
ute; it  fed  thousands  of  voters,  and  it  gave  power  and 
influence  to  hundreds  of  political  leaders.  It  had  this 
appointed  function,  and  it  performed  it  well. 

When  I  took  charge  of  the  department  I  found  the 
district  superintendents  and  foremen  more  or  less  uni- 
formed. Few,  if  any,  of  them  wore  the  complete  uni- 
form, and  still  fewer  had  a  promising  look.  They  seemed 
to  be  an  easy-going,  happy-go-lucky  set  of  men,  who  had 
made  up  their  minds  that  it  was  not  possible  to  improve 
the  state  of  affairs,  and  who  had  learned  to  make  the 
best  of  the  situation.  The  sweepers  wore  a  sort  of 
brownish  suit,  save  when  they  found  it  more  convenient 
to  wear  something  else,  and,  pretty  generally,  grayish- 


POLITICAL  CONTROL 


17 


brown  caps  with  the  letters  "  D.  S.  C."  on  the  front. 
They  kept  their  tools  at  home,  in  cellars  under  saloons, 
in  yards  behind  corner  groceries,  in  livery  stables,  or 
wherever  else  they  could  get  permission  to  store  them. 
Their  roll-calls  were  at  the  street-corner  or  on  the  gut- 
ter. They  had  no  habitation,  and  they  seemed  hardly 
fit  to  have  a  name. 

Commissioner  Andrews  had  inaugurated  a  system  of 
section  stations,  by  which  the  men  of  each  two  sections 
adjoining  would  have  a  place  of  meeting  and  storage- 
room  for  their  tools  in  a  room  of  their  own;  but  this 
custom  had  by  no  means  become  general  at  the  time 
when  he  left  office.  The  stables  were  ill  kept  and  dis- 
orderly, and  wrere  largely  the  resort  of  friendly  idlers  of 
the  neighborhood. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  extend  this  description.  The 
only  thing  that  could  be  said  in  favor  of  it  was  that  it  was 
quite  uniform  in  iis  lack  of  uniformity.  There  was  little 
evidence  of  a  controlling  central  authority. 

As  I  have  since  had  ample  occasion  to  learn,  very 
many  of  the  officers,  and  of  the  men  as  well,  were  first- 
rate  material,  who  needed  only  proper  guiding  to  become 
effective.  In  fact,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
best  of  the  workmen  and  some  of  the  best  of  the  officers 
of  to-day  were  among  those  described  above. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  effort  made  to  restrain 
the  tendency  for  drink,  which  was  conspicuous,  especially 
among  the  drivers.  Dismissals  in  the  working-force  for 
gross  drunkenness  were,  of  course,  frequent;  but  a  man 
could  safely  drink  pretty  steadily  throughout  the  day 
without  endangering  his  position.  The  neighborhood  of 
the  various  dumps  to  which  the  drivers  take  their  loads 
of  refuse  used  to  be  specially  valuable  as  sites  for  the 


18 


STREET-CLEANING 


liquor  traffic.  One  owner  tells  me  that  in  1894  opposite 
one  of  the  dumps  he  had  four  saloon-keeper  tenants, 
whose  rents  ranged  from  eleven  hundred  to  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum.  There  is  now  only  one  of  these 
saloons  left  open,  and  that  pays  a  rental  of  only  four 
hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

My  early  acquaintance  with  the  department  was  not 
without  its  amusing  incidents.  I  found,  for  example, 
that  the  general  superintendent  had  an  unusual  capacity 
for  handling  the  roughly  organized  force  employed  in  the 
removal  of  snow.  He  had  been  reported  to  me  as  a 
Tammany  captain,  and  as  one  of  the  chief  agencies 
through  which  his  political  organization  had  worked  the 
department.  He  was  strongly  recommended  for  dis- 
missal. Remembering  the  wise  injunction  "  not  go  swap 
horses  when  crossing  a  stream,"  I  waited  until  the  snow 
season  had  passed.  I  then  sent  for  him,  and  told  him 
that  he  had  been  represented  as  a  "rank  Tammany 
man,"  etc. 

He  said  with  mild  submission,  "  Whenever  you  want 
my  resignation,  it  is  at  your  service."  I  said,  "  Don't  be 
quite  so  fast;  let  me  hear  your  version  of  your  case." 
He  said,  "  Do  you  know  what  a  Tammany  man  is?  It  is 
a  man  who  votes  for  his  job.  I  have  been  a  Tammany 
man,  and  a  faithful  one.  I  have  worked  for  the  organi- 
zation; I  have  paid  regular  contributions  to  it.  But  I 
am  a  waring  man  now."  He  probably  saw  an  unex- 
plained smile  on  my  face,  for  he  said,  "  Don't  misunder- 
stand me.  If  Tammany  comes  into  power  again  I  shall 
be  a  Tammany  man  again."  This  frankness  met  its  re- 
ward, and  I  have  had  the  great  advantage  of  Mr.  William 
Robbing's  active  and  earnest  assistance  from  that  day  to 
this,  and  I  trust  to  have  it  for  many  a  long  day  yet. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE 

I ACCEPTED  the  commissionership  of  street-cleaning 
with  the  positive  assurance  of  Mayor  Strong  that  I 
should  not  be  interfered  with  in  the  matter  of  ap- 
pointments and  dismissals,  and  that  I  should  "  have  my 
own  way "  generally.  His  power  to  dismiss  me  is  un- 
limited, and  he  could  get  rid  of  me  any  day  if  I  did  not 
suit  him;  but  so  long  as  I  should  remain  I  was  to  be  the 
real  head  of  my  department.  The  mayor  has  lived  up  to 
his  promise  from  that  day  to  this.  I  have  sometimes 
been  a  sore  trial  to  him,  especially  in  my  relations  with 
certain  pensioners  and  labor  leaders,  and  he  has  wished 
he  might  wash  his  hands  of  me  more  than  once;  but  he 
saw  reasons  for  bearing  with  my  conduct  until  the  storm 
blew  over.  He  has  never  tried  to  influence  me  in  the 
matter  of  "  patronage,"  nor  has  he  ever  insisted  on  con- 
trolling the  policy  of  my  work.  If  he  had  done  otherwise 
the  result  would  not  have  been  the  same. 

At  the  outset  the  employees  of  the  department  ex- 
pected to  be  turned  out,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Their 
positions  were  spoils  which  belonged^to  the  victors,  and 

19 


20 


STREET-CLEANING 


they  were  filled  with  apprehension  as  to  their  future 
bread  and  butter.  They  knew  the  public  would  not 
longer  put  up  with  unclean  streets,  and  that  the  clean 
sweeping  demanded  might  properly  begin  with  them. 

Knowing  that  organizations  of  men  are  good  or  bad 
according  to  the  way  in  which  they  are  handled,  that  "  a 
good  colonel  makes  a  good  regiment,"  I  paid  attention 
first  to  those  at  the  top— to  the  colonels.  I  found  the 
general  superintendent  to  be  an  excellent  man  for  his 
duties,  while  most  of  the  others  were  from  very  indiffer- 
ent to  decidedly  bad.  These  were  got  rid  of.  In  filling 
their  places  I  sought  men  mainly  with  military  training 
or  with  technical  education  and  practice,  not  one  of 
whom  had  any  political  alliance  which  he  was  not  willing 
to  sever.    They  were  nearly  all  young  men. 

When  the  important  offices  had  been  filled  attention 
was  turned  to  the  rank  and  file  of  the  working-force. 
The  men  were  assured  that  their  future  rested  solely 
with  themselves;  that  if  they  did  their  work  faithfully 
and  well,  kept  away  from  drink,  treated  citizens  civilly, 
and  tried  to  make  themselves  a  credit  to  the  department, 
there  was  no  power  in  the  city  that  could  get  them  out 
of  their  places,  so  long  as  I  stayed  in  mine.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  they  were  drunkards,  incompetent,  black- 
guards, or  loafers,  no  power  could  keep  them  in.  When 
they  found  that  I  really  meant  what  I  said— and  it  took 
them  some  time  to  get  such  a  strange  new  idea  into  their 
heads— they  took  on  a  new  heart  of  hope,  and  turned 
their  eyes  to  the  front.  From  that  day  their  improve- 
ment has  been  constant  and  most  satisfactory.  Their 
white  uniforms,  once  so  derided,  have  been  a  great  help 
to  them,  and  they  know  it;  and  the  recognition  of  the 
people  has  done  still  more  for  them.    Indeed,  the  parade 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  21 


of  1896  marked  an  era  in  their  history.  It  introduced 
them  to  the  prime  favor  of  a  public  by  which,  one  short 
year  before,  they  had  been  contemned;  and  the  public  saw 
that  these  men  were  proud  of  their  positions,  were  self- 
respecting,  and  were  the  object  of  pride  on  the  part  of 
their  friends  and  relatives  who  clustered  along  their  line 
of  march. 

What  has  really  been  done  has  been  to  put  a  man  in- 
stead of  a  voter  at  the  other  end  of  the  broom-handle. 
The  "  White  Wings  "  are  by  no  means  white  angels,  but 
they  are  a  splendid  body  of  men,  a  body  on  which  the 
people  of  New  York  can  depend  for  any  needed  service, 
without  regard  to  hours  or  personal  comfort.  A  trusted 
sweeper,  for  example,  will  stand  on  a  windy  dock-log  all 
night  long,  and  night  after  night,  protecting  the  city 
against  the  wiles  and  tricks  of  the  snow-carters.  He 
gets  no  extra  pay  for  this,  but  his  extra  service  and  his 
hardship  are  compensated  by  the  consciousness  that  he 
is  doing  good  work,  that  his  good  work  is  appreciated  by 
his  officers,  and  that  the  force  to  which  he  belongs  is 
winning  public  favor  partly  because  of  what  he  himself 
is  doing.  In  other  words,  the  whole  department  is 
actuated  by  a  real  esprit  de  corps,  without  which  no 
organization  of  men  can  do  its  best,  either  in  war  or  in 
peace. 

The  discipline  is  rigid  and  uniform.  It  is  regulated 
and  enforced  according  to  these  rules,  which  are  posted 
in  all  section  stations  and  stables: 

The  following  abstract  of  the  offenses  of  drivers  and  sweepers  in  the  de- 
partment.  and  the  penalties  prescribed  therefor,  is  published  for  the  infor- 
mation and  guidance  of  all  concerned.  Hereafter  any  offense  will  be  reported 
(on  the  prescribed  form  and  in  the  exist  tag  manner,  through  the  stable  fore- 
man in  the  case  of  drivers,  and  through  the  section  foreman,  approved  by  the 
district  superintendent,  in  the  case  of  sweeper^)  as  a  lirst,  second  third,  or 


22 


STREET-CLEANING 


fourth  violation  of  Rule  ,  and  the  recommendation  for  punishment  must 

not  exceed  the  code  of  penalties. 

When  the  prescribed  penalty  is  dismissal,  the  offender  may  be  suspended 
without  pay,  awaiting  the  action  of  the  commissioner.  A  fourth  violation  of 
rules,  of  whatever  character,  will  indicate  that  the  man  is  incorrigible,  and  he 
may  be  dismissed. 

Except  in  the  case  of  men  recommended  for  dismissal,  there  will  be  no 
suspensions.  The  punishment  will  be  forfeiture  of  pay,  and  men  who  refuse 
to  work  while  subject  to  such  forfeiture  will  be  at  once  dismissed. 

This  order  will  be  posted  on  the  bulletin  boards  at  stables  and  section 
stations,  and  every  employee  of  the  department  will  be  assumed  to  under- 
stand it. 

Explanation :  "  D  "  means  dismissal.  1,  2,  3,  5,  and  10  mean  the  forfeiture 
of  so  many  days'  pay. 


PENALTY 

•I  CHARACTER  OF  OFFENSE  Offense 

^  1st      2d      3d  4th 

1.  Absence  for  more  than  five  days  without  authority 

of  the  commissioner  .    D 

2.  Failure  to  report  or  send  notice  to  foreman  when  sick  1  3D 

3.  Absence  from  roll-call  at  proper  hour       ...  1        2      ?  D 

4.  Failure  to  return  to  stable  or  section  station  prompt- 

ly after  work  is  over  and  reporting  time  to  stable 

foreman,  section  foreman,  or  clerk  ....    2        3      5  D 

5.  Failure  to  provide  himself  with  the  prescribed  uni- 

form, oilskin  suits,  sweater,  and  badge  after  rea- 
sonable time       .       .  D 

C.  Failure  to  wear  prescribed  uniform  and  badge  while 

on  duty  in  the  manner  directed  by  orders  .    3  D 

7.  Neglect  to  keep  uniform  and  cap  in  neat  condition   1        2      3  D 

8.  Failure  to  keep  horse,  harness,  cart,  machine,  etc., 

in  g  ;od  order,  and  failing  to  report  injury  to  them 

to  foreman  at  once  1        3      5  D 

9.  Driving,  using,  or  interfering  with  any  horse,  cart, 

harness,  machine,  etc.,  not  assigned  to  him  by 

proper  authority,  without  good  reason  ...    1        3      5  D 

10.  Neglecting  or  abusing  a  horse,  whipping  or  striking 

a  horse,  using  a  horse  which  is  sick  or  lame,  and  fail- 
ing to  take  such  horse  to  stable  or  reporting  him 
to  foreman  D 

11.  Neglecting  to  adjust  harness  properly  while  at  work   1        3      5  I) 

12.  Neglecting  to  have  lost  shoes  replaced  on  horse  at 

nearest  department  stable  as  soon  as  practicable  .    1        3      5  D 

13.  Leaving  cart,  etc.,  and  horse  unattended  in  street 

without  good  reason   1        35  1> 

14.  Failure  to  feed  horse  properly  during  swing     .      .  D 

15.  Failure  to  water  horse  properly  during  work  hours  .  D 
If).  Failure  to  remove  bits  and  to  dump  carts  while  feed- 
ing at  noon   5  D 

17.  Deliberately  trotting  or  galloping  a  horse  ...    5        10  D 

18.  Failure  properly  to  rare  for  horse,  harness,  cart,  etc., 

before  leaving  stable  after  return  from  work        .  I> 

19.  Loitering  at  work  2        5  1) 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  23 


PENALTY 

1  CHARACTER  OF  OFFENSE  Offense 

g  1st       2d  3d 

20.  Failure  to  clean  up  his  route  or  area  of  streets  as- 

signed, properly,  by  reason  of  neglect  or  loafing   .3       5  1) 

21.  Failure  or  refusal  to  obey  orders  of  superiors   .  .1) 

22.  Having  a  helper  or  conductor  with  him  without  au- 

thority  D 

23.  Sorting  over  or  picking  over  refuse  or  permitting 

others  so  to  do  D 

24.  Neglecting  to  pick  up  and  remove  small  stones  found 

on  route,  and  failing  to  report  large  ones  or.  other 
obstructions  lying  in  the  street,  ~such  as  gutter- 
planks,  etc.,  to*  section  foreman  .... 

25.  Taking  up  anything  but  ashes,  garbage,  and  street- 

sweepings,  except  where  they  are  mixed  in  small 
quantities  in  a  receptacle  or  ash-barrel  . 

26.  Removing  the  contents  of  more  than  one  receptacle 

so  mixed,  from  one  place,  and  neglecting  to  report 
such  condition  to  section  foreman  .... 

27.  Mixing  ashes  and  garbage  together  in  districts  where 

it  is  forbidden  

28.  Neglecting  to  report  to  district  superintendents,  sta- 

ble foremen,  or  section  foremen,  where  suitable 
receptacles  are  not  provided,  where  they  are  im- 
properly filled,  and  where  refuse  is  spilled  on  side- 
walks or  streets   

29.  Neglecting  to  keep  load  covered  and  allowing  it  to 

blow  or  spill  on  street  

30.  Failing  to  have  cart  number  exposed  .... 

31.  Failing  to  provide  himself  with  the  xiroper  imple- 

ments to  perform  the  work  assigned  him 

32.  Accepting  or  demanding  a  fee  or  gratuity  for  work 

done  

33.  Entering  a  liquor  saloon  during  work  hours 

34.  Being  under  the  influence  of  liquor  while  on  duty  . 

35.  Using  abusive  or  threatening  language  to  a  superior 

36.  Failing  to  turn  over  his  dump  ticket  at  end  of  day's 

work  to  foreman  or  clerk  at  stable  .... 

37.  Failure  to  report  promptly  defects  in  brooms  or 

mechanism  of  machines  to  foreman 

38.  Neglect  of  driver  or  sweeper  to  water  street  properly 

to  lay  the  dust  

39.  Using  machine  before  street  is  sprinkled  . 

40.  Neglect  to  close  hydrant  after  use  .... 

41.  Failing  to  report  change  of  residence  to  foreman 

42.  Removing  improper  material  

43.  Being  boisterous  or  using  profane  language  or  any 

incivility  to  citizens  

44.  Failure  to  keep  gutters  and  culverts  clear  and  clean 

45.  Failure  to  keep  dirt -piles  at  the  regulation  distance 

from  the  curbstone  


48.  Absence  from  post  of  duty  without  reasonable  ex- 
cuse     .       .  .   


1 

3 

5 

I) 

9 

5 

2 

5 

D 

5 

D 

3 

5 

D 

3 

D 

3 

5 

D 

1 

3 

5 

D 

D 

3 

D 

D 

D 

3 

D 

1 

3 

5 

D 

3 

5 

I) 

D 

5 

D 

10 

D 

10 

1) 

1 

3 

5 

1) 

3 

I) 

1 

3 

1) 

1 

9 

3 

1) 

o 

3 

5 

I) 

3 

1) 

24 


STREET-CLEANING 


„  PENALTY 
•3  CHARACTER  OF  OFFENSE  Offense 

1st       2d       3d  4th 

49.  Failure  to  clean  up  any  dirt,  ashes,  or  garbage  left 

or  spilled  upon  the  street  or  sidewalk  by  any  de- 
partment driver  or  drivers ;  or  failure  to  report 
the  facts  to  the  foreman  on  same  day,  giving  name 
or  names  and  badge  number  or  numbers  of  the 
driver  or  drivers,  if  known,  with  the  exact  place 
and  time,  as  near  as  possible,  at  which  such  ashes 
or  garbage  was  spilled  or  left  upon  the  street  or 
sidewalk  .1       3       5  D 

50.  Failure  to  replace  receptacles  within  the  stoop  or  area 

line  after  emptying  the  contents  of  same  into  cart   1       3       5  D 


During  the  first  year  of  my  administration  as  commis- 
sioner of  street-cleaning  I  found  that  in  the  maintenance 
of  discipline  frequent  appeals  from  my  decisions  were 
made  by  the  men.  These  decisions  were  necessarily 
based  mainly  on  official  reports.  In  order  that  no  em- 
ployee should  be  treated  unjustly,  I  undertook,  in  the 
beginning,  either  to  give  each  complainant  a  hearing 
myself,  or  to  deputize  some  other  official  to  do  so  for  me. 
This  occupied  so  much  time  as  to  interfere  with  the  regu- 
lar department  business,  and  was  not  always  satisfactory 
to  the  men  themselves. 

After  a  study  of  the  Belgian  method  of  "  arbitration 
and  conciliation,"  and  of  the  experiences  in  this  country 
of  the  mason  builders  and  the  bricklayers,  I  conceived  a 
scheme  which  would  afford  the  men  an  ample  hearing 
before  a  competent  and  unprejudiced  committee  of  their 
own  creation.  The  earlier  stages  of  each  investigation 
would  be  absolutely  under  the  control  of  this  committee, 
and  the  entire  force  would  be  in  close  touch  with  its 
work. 

The  feature  of  this  scheme  which  requires  a  prelim- 
inary consideration  of  all  questions,  whether  personal  or 
general,  by  a  body  constituted  entirely  of  representatives 
of  the  employees  themselves,  is,  I  believe,  original. 

Early  in  January,  1896,  I  addressed  the  following 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  25 


unofficial  communication  to  the  "  Employees  of  the 
Department "  : 

In  order  to  establish  friendly  and  useful  relations  between  the  men 
in  the  working-force  and  the  officers  of  the  department,  I  shall  be  glad 
to  see  an  organization  formed  among  the  men  for  the  discussion  of  all 
matters  of  interest. 

This  organization  will  be  represented  by  five  spokesmen  in  a  "  board 
of  conference,"  in  which  the  commissioner  will  be  represented  by  the 
general  superintendent,  the  chief  clerk,  one  district  superintendent,  one 
section  foreman,  and  one  stable  foreman. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  men  who  gather  at  each  section  station  and 
the  men  at  each  stable  (with  the  boardmen  from  the  nearest  dumps) 
each  elect  one  of  their  number  to  represent  them  in  a  general  commit- 
tee of  forty-one  (thirty-two  from  section  stations  and  nine  from  stables), 
and  that  this  general  committee  elect  the  five  spokesmen  by  whom  it  is 
to  be  represented  in  the  Board  of  Conference. 

The  general  committee  will  meet  in  a  room,  to  be  provided  for  it, 
at  2  P.  If.  on  every  Thursday,  except  the  third  Thursday  of  each  month. 
The  members  will  not  have  their  time  docked  for  this.  Their  meetings 
will  be  secret,  and  they  will  be  expected  to  discuss  with  perfect  free- 
dom everything  connected  with  their  work,  their  relations  with  the 
commissioner  and  his  subordinates,  and  all  questions  of  discipline, 
duties,  pay,  etc.,  in  which  they  are  interested,  or  which  their  sections, 
stables,  and  dumps  may  have  submitted  to  them. 

The  Board  of  Conference  will  meet  at  2  P.  M.  on  the  third  Thursday 
of  each  month,  or  as  near  to  this  date  as  the  exigencies  of  the  work 
will  allow. 

The  ten  members  of  the  Board  of  Conference  will  be  on  a  perfect 
equality.  It  will  establish  its  own  organization  and  rules  of  procedure, 
and  will  elect  one  of  its  members  permanent  chairman  and  another  per- 
manent secretary,  one  of  these  to  be  chosen  from  the  five  officers,  and 
another  from  the  five  spokesmen. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  board  will  be  able  to  settle  every  question  that 
may  come  up  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned,  because  most  differ- 
ences can  be  adjusted  by  discussions  in  which  both  sides  are  fairly 
represented. 

Should  any  matter  arise  as  to  which  the  board  cannot  come  to  a  sub- 
stantial agreement,  the  permanent^  chairman  and  the  permanent 


26 


STREET-CLEANING 


secretary  will  argue  the  case  before  the  commissioner,  who  will  try  to 
reach  a  fair  conclusion  upon  it. 

In  conformity  with  the  foregoing  call,  the  sweepers  and 
drivers  organized  the  Committee  of  Forty-one,  represen- 
tatives being  chosen  entirely  by  themselves.  This  com- 
mittee, after  several  meetings,  elected  from  its  number 
five  men— three  sweepers  and  two  drivers— to  represent 
it  in  the  Board  of  Conference, 

The  Board  of  Conference  held  its  first  meeting  Febru- 
ary 20,  1896.  Every  appointee  was  present,  and  in  or- 
ganizing the  board  a  sweeper  was  unanimously  chosen  as 
permanent  chairman,  and  the  chief  clerk  as  permanent 
secretary. 

The  following  is  taken  from  an  account  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  system,  written  by  the  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Conference: 

"  From  the  beginning  it  was  evident  that  a  large  num- 
ber of  the  men  had  a  very  full  appreciation  of  the  purpose 
of  the  plan.  They  welcomed  it  in  a  manly  spirit,  and 
entered  heartily  into  every  detail  of  organization.  This 
was  the  more  strange  in  view  of  the  radical  change  of 
venue,  as  it  were.  A  large  percentage  of  the  men  were 
members  of,  and  amenable  to,  organizations  which  had 
existed  in  the  department  under  former  administrations, 
and  the  influence  from  these  sources  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  cea^e  without  an  effort  on  the  part  of  those 
whose  success  depended  upon  dissensions  which  mi^ht 
occur,  or  which  they  could  create,  between  the  commis- 
sioner and  the  men,  and  who  often  deceived  and  misled 
into  serious  and  embarrassing  situations  those  whose 
interests  they  were  supposed  to  have  at  heart  and  to 
protect. 


THE  REORGANIZATION*  OF  THE  FORCE  27 


"Aside  from  those  identified  by  membership  with 
these  organizations,  there  were  many,  not  members, 
who  held  a  latent  sympathy  with  the  old  system  of  set- 
tling difficulties  by  strikes.  In  fact,  it  was  generally 
understood  that  wrongs  must  be  either  borne  or  righted 
by  coercion.  Arbitration  was  looked  upon  as  a  far-off 
theory,  applicable,  perhaps,  at  times,  somewhere,  and 
under  certain  conditions;  but  the  idea  of  its  adaptation 
to  and  adoption  by  a  municipal  department  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  and  especially  by  the  Department  of  Street- 
Cleaning,  where  political  preference  was  the  only  rule 
they  had  ever  known,  had  never  entered  their  minds.  In 
fact,  they  were  warned  by  skeptics,  both  outside  of  the 
department  and  among  themselves,  to  1  look  out  for  War- 
ing; this  is  one  of  his  tricks.'  That  any  commissioner  of 
street-cleaning,  even  though  he  were  an  '  angel/  should 
honestly  intend  and  honestly  endeavor  to  deal  fairly  with 
the  rank  and  file  of  those  under  him  was  too  much  to 
believe.  There  must,  they  thought,  be  some  sinister 
motive  behind  it. 

"  Gradually,  however,  the  better  element  among  the 
men  did  believe  in  it;  and  as  their  faith  grew  stronger 
the  malcontents  were  either  converted  or  thrust  out,  and 
slowly  but  surely  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  became  a 
body  of  earnest  and  honest  cooperators  with  the  com- 
missioner toward  the  mutual  confidence  so  essential  for 
contentment  on  the  part  of  the  men,  and  without  which 
the  best  results  from  the  combined  efforts  of  the  com- 
missioner and  themselves  could  not  be  expected. 

"  A  very  false  impression  obtains  among  the  public  at 
large  that  the  men  constituting  the  membership  of  the 
department  sweepers  and  drivers  are  below  the  average 
in  intelligence  and  acumen.    TJis  is  not  the  case.  Not 


28 


STREET-CLEANING 


all  of  them  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  scholarly 
education  (although  some  of  them  have),  but  it  would  be 
a  happy  day  for  this  country  were  the  average  legislator 
to  display  the  fairness  and  judgment  of  these  men  who 
have  been  chosen  by  their  respective  constituents  as 
representatives. 

"  Of  course,  in  the  beginning,  and  while  the  proposed 
plan  of  arbitration  was  an  unknown  quantity  to  the  men, 
and  they  themselves  unknown  to  each  other,  dead-wood 
drifted  in  and  disturbing  spirits  appeared;  but,  as  inti- 
mated above,  this  element  was  soon  detected  and  in  an 
orderly  manner  eliminated. 

"  The  Committee  of  Forty-one  has,  since  its  first  meet- 
ing, met  every  Thursday,  except  the  third  Thursday  in 
each  month.  Its  meetings  are  held  with  closed  doors, 
and  its  discussions  have,  therefore,  been  free  from  any 
surveillance  or  influence,  and,  as  was  intended,  entirely 
private  and  unrestrained. 

"  Perhaps  the  best  way  of  explaining  the  general 
character  of  the  work  is  to  cite  illustrating  sample  cases. 
For  instance: 

"  Driver  A  of  Stable  has  been  reported  by  an  in- 
spector as  entering  a  liquor  saloon  during  working-hours 
and  in  full  uniform,  and  remaining  inside  for  ten  minutes 
—  this  in  violation  of  a  very  important  rule,  the  penalty 
for  the  second  offense  being  dismissal.  Driver  A  admits 
entering  the  door  of  the  saloon,  and  also  admits  remain- 
ing inside  for  ten  minutes,  but  has  an  explanation  to 
make  as  to  his  reasons  for  so  doing.  Argument  in  all 
such  cases  cannot  be  allowed,  lest  the  officers  of  the  de- 
partment would  have  time  for  little  else  than  to  listen 
to  lame  excuses  and  bogus  explanations.  Driver  A  has 
now,  however,  another  recourse.  He  calls  upon  his  rep- 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  29 


resentative  in  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  and  explains 
the  matter  to  him  fully,  confirming  his  statement  in 
writing.  His  representative  submits  the  case  at  the  next 
meeting  of  the  committee,  and  there  the  plea  of  A  is  read 
and  discussed  by  his  co-laborers.  His  explanation  is  that 
the  door  which  he  entered  is  one  of  two  leading  to  the 
saloon,  but  which  also  leads  to  a  tenement  in  the  rear  of 
the  saloon,  in  which  he  has  his  home.  It  appeared  from 
his  explanation  that  his  wife  had  been  confined  recently, 
and  that,  as  his  home  was  on  his  way  to  the  dump,  his 
natural  anxiety  prompf ed  him  to  stop  for  a  moment.  He 
submitted,  in  confirmation  of  his  statement,  the  certifi- 
cate of  a  reliable  physician  in  the  neighborhood,  in  whose 
hands  his  wife's  case  was,  and,  having  requested  his  fore- 
man to  accompany  him  to  his  home,  submitted  a  letter 
from  him  substantiating  his  statement.  He  also  pro- 
duced letters  from  both  his  foreman  and  his  district 
superintendent  stating  that  he  was  never  known  to  have 
been  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  nor  had  he  ever  been 
charged  with  entering  a  saloon  before.  These  officials 
said  that  he  was  a  reliable  and  careful  driver. 

"At  its  next  meeting  the  committee  investigated 
the  matter,  and  after  gathering  confirmatory  testimony 
is  persuaded  that  A's  claim  is  a  just  one,  and  there- 
fore referred  the  case  to  the  Board  of  Conference,  with 
such  additional  light  as  it  had  been  able  to  obtain.  This 
board  is  so  constituted  that  no  matter  what  the  charac- 
ter of  the  case  referred  to  it  by  the  Committee  of  Forty- 
one  may  be,  there  is  always  one  member  representing 
the  commissioner  qualified  by  his  position  and  experience 
to  judge  of  its  merits. 

"  The  man  has  now  taken  lr>  case  two  steps  toward 
the  commissioner,  and  thus  far  without  the  latter's 


30 


STREET-CLEANING 


knowledge.  To  facilitate  quick  adjustment,  these  mat- 
ters are,  before  being  considered  by  the  board,  referred 
in  an  informal  way  to  one  of  its  official  members.  This 
official  brings  with  him  to  the  meeting  the  result  of  his 
informal  investigation  and  copies  of  the  department 
records  relating  to  the  case.  Thus  the  board  is  able  to 
consider  A's  claim  impartially,  and  also  to  determine  its 
truthfulness.  After  due  consideration  the  matter  is  re- 
ferred to  an  official  in  the  department  having  charge  of 
such  business,  with  the  recommendation  that  the  fine  be 
remitted. 

"  By  the  foregoing  process  a  budget  of  papers  relating 
to  each  case  is  arranged  in  chronological  order  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  commissioner,  who  at  a  glance  can  com- 
prehend it  from  beginning  to  end  and  quickly  decide  as 
to  its  merits.  A  report  of  his  decision  is  added  to  the 
budget,  and  transmitted  by  the  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Conference  to  the  secretary  of  the  Committee  of 
Forty-one,  and  it,  among  others,  is  read  to  the  com- 
mittee at  its  next  meeting.  In  the  case  in  question, 
where  the  commissioner's  decision  was  in  favor  of  the 
man,  the  amount  forfeited  by  A  was  credited  to  him  on 
the  next  pay-roll. 

"  The  following  case  is  somewhat  different  in  charac- 
ter: 

"  At  one  of  the  board  meetings  a  communication  was 
received  from  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  calling  atten- 
tion to  an  ordinance  of  the  city  requiring  householders 
to  clear  snow  from  the  gutters  in  front  of  their  premises, 
and  pointing  out  the  very  great  saving  in  expense  to  the 
city  which  would  result  were  the  ordinance  enforced. 
Not  only  would  it  be  a  saving  to  the  city,  but  it  would 
afford  quick  relief  to  the  public  at  cross-walks,  which 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  31 


would  otherwise  be  flooded  in  wet  or  thawing  weather  if 
there  were  snow  on  the  ground.  This  matter  was  care- 
fully considered  by  the  board,  and  referred  direct  to  the 
commissioner,  with  the  suggestion  that  he  request  the 
assistance  of  the  Police  Department.  The  commissioner 
thanked  the  committee  for  its  suggestion,  and  imme- 
diately took  the  matter  up  anew,  having  already  con- 
ferred with  the  Police  Department  on  the  subject. 

"  It  might  appear  at  first  glance  that  the  machinery, 
as  indicated  above,  is  cumbersome  and  the  process  slow. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  case.  The  system  is  so  pre- 
cisely arranged  that  when  once  a  case  has  been  started 
it  goes  along  without  delay.  No  case  need  remain  un- 
settled for  more  than  thirty  days  after  its  submission  to 
a  representative  or  to  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  direct, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  very  many  cases  are  settled  by 
the  Committee  of  Forty-one  in  half  that  time,  or  less. 

"  The  matters  referred  by  the  committee  to  the  Board 
of  Conference  vary  in  character.  They  are  not  all  com- 
plaints. The  board  frequently  receives  suggestions  from 
the  men  as  to  improvements  in  the  department  service, 
or  perhaps  for  some  modification  or  change  of  a  rule. 
A  number  of  these  suggestions  have  been  approved  and 
adopted,  and  the  service  has  been  benefited  thereby.  Of 
course  there  are  many  cases  submitted  to  the  Committee 
of  Forty-one  which  are  so  trivial  that  they  are  thrown 
out  of  court  at  once,  and  never  reach  even  the  Board  of 
Conference.  Occasionally,  however,  a  complaint  of  this 
character  does  get  through,  perhaps  inadvertently,  and 
reaches  the  board;  but  it  ends  its  career  there. 

"  Of  all  the  cases  considered  by  the  Board  of  Confer- 
ence during  its  first  year,  there  was  but  one  upon  which 
it  could  not  agree.    On  this  case  The  board  was  divided 


32 


STREET-CLEANING 


evenly,  the  representatives  of  the  men  on  one  side,  and 
those  of  the  commissioner  on  the  other.  This  liability 
to  a  dead-lock  had  been  anticipated  in  the  original  call, 
and  provided  for;  accordingly,  the  chairman  and  the  sec- 
retary of  the  board  argued  their  respective  sides  of  the 
question  before  the  commissioner.  This  case,  occurring 
toward  the  end  of  the  year,  was  a  novelty;  and  as  the 
members  of  the  board  were  very  earnest  in  their  respec- 
tive convictions,  the  matter  was  watched  with  much  in- 
terest, it  being  considered,  as  it  were,  a  test  case. 

"The  commissioner's  decision  in  the  matter  wTas  in 
favor  of  the  complainant,  and  the  fine  which  had  been 
imposed  was  remitted.  He  stated,  however,  that  '  tech- 
nically, and  in  accordance  with  all  rules  of  discipline,  the 
fine  was  a  just  one,  and  should  be  imposed  in  all  similar 
cases.  At  the  same  time,  I  cannot  avoid  the  feeling  that 
this  violation  was  made  for  no  improper  reason,  and  per- 
haps with  a  laudable  desire  to  help  the  service;  and,  in 
any  case,  probably  the  ends  of  justice  and  discipline  are 
as  fully  satisfied  by  the  mental  anxiety  to  which  the 
driver  has  been  subjected,  and  the  full  discussion  the 
subject  has  received  in  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  and 
the  Board  of  Conference,  as  they  would  be  by  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  penalty.  I  therefore  direct  that  the  fine  be 
remitted/  " 

The  fcMowing  is  a  brief  statistical  statement  of  the 
year's  work  of  the  Board  of  Conference,  and  relates  en- 
tirely to  cases  referred  to  it  by  the  Committee  of  Forty- 
one,  or  matters  brought  up  by  the  members  of  the  board 
representing  the  men: 

Matters  explained  satisfactorily  at  the  same  meeting  at 

which  submitted  15 

Fines  remitted  or  reduced  22 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE 


33 


Fines  sustained      .       .       .       .      ..       .       .  .13 

Suggestions  from  employees  for  the  comfort  and  conve- 
nience of  the  men,  or  for  the  betterment  of  the  depart- 
ment service,  approved  and  acted  upon  by  the  com- 
missioner  24 

Cases  considered  by  the  board,  but  on  which  it  determined 

that  no  action  should  be  taken        .       .       .  .14 

Employees  dismissed,  reinstated  upon  satisfactory  evidence 

that  the  dismissals  were  unmerited  ....  8 

Employees  dismissed,  but,  because  of  unsatisfactory  expla- 
nations, not  reinstated  17 

The  total  number  of  cases  considered  by  the  board  (an 

average  of  over  ten  for  each  meeting)     .       .  .124 

The  above  is  in  no  way  connected  with  the  statistics 
of  cases  considered  or  matters  discussed  at  the  meetings 
of  the  Committee  of  Forty-one. 

During  the  year  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  consid- 
ered 345  cases,  of  which  124  wrere  referred  to  the  Board 
of  Conference,  221  being  settled  satisfactorily  by  itself. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  permitted  to  judge,  the  system 
of  arbitration  as  above  outlined  has  appealed  to  the  men 
as  a  straightforward  and  perfectly  open  channel  for  the 
communication  of  their  grievances,  and  the  officers  of  the 
department  who  are  in  closest  relations  with  the  em- 
ployees so  describe  the  generally  prevailing  feeling.  In 
the  beginning,  however,  as  has  been  said  already,  this 
feeling  was  tinctured  with  a  quite  natural  suspicion  that 
the  scheme  was  a  cut-and-dried  affair,  and  that  the 
delegates  elected  would  be  so  subservient  to  official  in- 
fluences that  their  consideration  of  the  various  cases 
coming  before  them  would,  under  the  flattery  of  implied 
power,  be  merely  perfunctory.  In  other  words,  it  was 
regarded  as  a  sop  to  stay  the  growth  of  that  repressed 


34 


STREET-  GLEANING 


bitterness  under  injustice  and  injury— real  or  fancied— 
which,  in  the  old  days,  had  so  often  culminated  in  an 
outbreak  that  was  the  only  method  known  to  the  men  of 
asserting  themselves,  and  whose  power  for  causing  harm 
and  suffering  to  the  people  of  the  entire  city  they  so  well 
appreciated. 

Except  from  an  occasional  malcontent,  whose  dismissal 
is  the  consequence  of  some  offense  so  flagrant  and  ap- 
parent that  his  case  receives  but  scant  consideration  in 
the  Committee  of  Forty-one,  we  no  longer  hear  that  the 
delegates  are  the  commissioner's  men,  and  not  the 
laborers'  representatives.  Indeed,  the  men  themselves 
realize  that  the  preponderance  of  leaning,  so  far,  has 
been  toward  their  side,  the  five  officers  representing  the 
commissioner  in  the  Board  of  Conference,  in  their  desire 
to  be  perfectly  fair  and  to  avoid  even  the  appearance  of 
arbitrariness,  preferring  to  exercise  too  much  leniency 
rather  than  too  little. 

The  Committee  of  Forty-one  corresponds  in  one  way 
to  any  other  representative  body;  but  it  is  a  great  deal 
more.  Each  one  of  its  members  is  elected  by  a  small 
circle  of  men  to  every  one  of  whom  he  is  intimately 
known  through  the  association  of  daily  labor  performed 
in  common.  This  man  must  jealously  watch  and  guard 
the  interests  of  his  constituents,  or  be  obliged  by  them 
to  give  place  to  one  who  will  do  so.  But  the  most 
marked  difference  of  all  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  dele- 
gate is  forced  to  present  the  complaint  of  any  one  of  his 
constituents  to  the  Committee  of  Forty-one.  He  has  no 
chance  for  the  display  of  favoritism,  nor  can  he  be  the 
recipient  of  bribes  from  individuals  or  lobbies.  There  is 
always  a  hearing  for  any  constituent,  however  weak  or 
preposterous  his  plea.  Should  he,  however,  be  refused 
by  his  delegate,  or  should  his  case  be  neglected,  he  may 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  FORCE  35 


go  directly  before  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Conference 
and  receive  a  sanction  for  the  consideration  of  his  com- 
plaint by  the  Committee  of  Forty-one.  Furthermore,  the 
session  of  the  Committee  of  Forty-one  is  never  adjourned 
sine  die,  and  no  case  can  be  crowded  out  or  rushed 
through  for  lack  of  time. 

As  will  readily  be  seen,  a  delegate  in  his  daily  associa- 
tions is  under  constant  surveillance  by  his  constituents. 
All  of  his  working  hours  are  office  hours  for  his  fellows, 
and  he  can  escape  their  importunities  only  by  resigna- 
tion. Some  of  the  men  who  have  found  the  position  the 
reverse  of  the  honorable  sinecure  they  were  seeking  have 
given  way  to  others  who  are  prepared  to  assume,  at  a 
considerable  sacrifice  and  with  unselfish  zeal,  the  extra 
wTork  and  the  great  responsibility  entailed.  It  is  only 
fair  to  the  laboring-man  to  say  that  among  no  other 
class  is  this  disinterested  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  his 
mates  more  frequently  met  with. 

The  presence  of  a  delegate  in  each  of  the  divisions  of 
the  laboring-body  is,  in  its  way,  a  check  upon  the  con- 
duct of  the  foremen.  Discipline,  which  is  the  life  of  the 
department,  is  in  no  manner  interfered  with.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  effectually  freed  of  the  objections  so  often 
resulting  from  the  excessive  use  of  authority.  Harsh- 
ness, loud-mouthed  profanity,  and  brutality  are  not  likely 
to  be  indulged  in  by  foremen,  with  so  powerful  an  inter- 
mediary as  the  delegate  always  present.  Naturally  he  is 
not  allowed  to  interfere  actively.  During  his  working- 
hours  he  is  a  laborer  pure  and  simple,  and  superiors 
must  be  obeyed,  no  matter  how  unjust  or  unreasonable 
they  may  be.  His  power  begins  only  with  his  weekly 
appearance  as  a  member  in  the  Committee  of  Forty-one, 
where,  alone  with  his  fellows,  he  is  given  the  opportunity 
of  stating  his  case  with  any  degree  of  heat  that  may 


36 


STREET-CLEANING 


seem  to  him  fitting,  and  with  the  certainty  that  it  will 
be  judged  by  no  one  but  laborers  with  similar  associa- 
tions and  like  sympathies.  The  committee  transmits  it, 
divested  of  all  incidents  of  passion,  to  the  Board  of  Con- 
ference, where  the  laborer  is,  for  the  nonce,  on  an  abso- 
lute equality  with  his  officer. 

Thus  far  our  arbitration  system  has  proved  a  most 
gratifying  success,  and  it  is  with  much  pleasure  that  I 
note  its  indorsement  by  practical  business  men  and  large 
factory-owners.  It  has,  I  am  firmly  convinced,  a  bright 
and  growing  future,  not  only  as  far  as  this  department  is 
concerned,  but  in  the  general  adjustment  of  the  labor 
question  throughout  the  country. 

I  indulge  the  hope  that  the  modest  experiment  here 
described  may  prove,  in  its  expansion,  to  be  a  factor  of 
no  inconsiderable  importance  in  the  ultimate  solution  of 
vexed  questions  of  difference  between  employer  and  em- 
ployed. Even  if  it  be  shown  to  be  limited  in  sphere  to 
its  present  field  of  action,  its  creation  has  certainly  not 
been  in  vain.  The  benefit  it  has  conferred  on  this  de- 
partment by  suppressing  the  tendency  to  strike,  by  the 
creation  of  an  esprit  de  corps,  and  by  cementing  men  and 
officers  together  in  a  bond  of  common  sympathy  and 
fellow-feeling,  has  been  of  incalculable  assistance  toward 
the  results  I  have  striven  to  achieve.  It  has  not  only 
furnished  a  channel  for  settling  individual  grievances, 
but  it  has  prevented  misunderstandings  between  the  men 
and  their  commissioner,  and  has  given  him  the  means  for 
ascertainirg  their  real  feelings  in  regard  to  changes  in 
policy,  new  rules,  methods,  and  equipment.  In  a  word, 
with  but  little  labor  and  the  slightest  tax  upon  his  time, 
it  has  brought  him  face  to  face  with  every  one  of  his 
three  thousand  employees. 


CHAPTER  V 


STREET-SWEEPING 

NATURALLY  the  most  obvious,  as  well  as  the  most 
important,  part  of  the  work  of  street-cleaning  is 
that  which  is  done  in  removing  accumulations 
from  the  surface  of  the  streets.  In  New  York  forty  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  disbursement  of  the  department  is  for 
sweeping,  and  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  laboring-force  is  em- 
ployed in  this  part  of  the  work,  which  here  is  done  entirely 
by  hand. 

Machine-sweeping  was  formerly  almost  universal,  es- 
pecially when  work  was  done  by  contract;  and,  as  a  rule, 
contract  street-cleaning  throughout  the  country  is  exe- 
cuted in  this  way.  At  the  beginning  of  operations  under 
the  present  administration  there  was  still  a  considerable 
amount  of  work  done  by  machines,  which  were  employed 
almost  universally  at  night.  The  dust  raised  by  them, 
even  with  preliminary  sprinkling,  constituted  such  a 
nuisance  as  to  make  it  improper  to  sweep  by  machine 
during  the  day.  After  very  careful  comparisons  of  cost 
and  of  the  character  of  the  work  done,  it  was  determined 
that  there  was  little,  if  any,  economy  in  using  machines 


38 


STREET-CLEANING 


if  they  were  made  to  do  the  best  work  of  which  they  are 
capable,  and  that  it  was  not  possible,  under  any  circum- 
stances, to  do  such  uniformly  good  work  by  machinery 
as  by  hand.  In  the  summer  of  1895  the  use  of  machines 
was  entirely  abandoned.  Two  years'  experience  with 
hand-work  has  satisfied  me  that  it  is  incomparably  more 
advantageous  than  machine-work,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  latter  will  again  be  resorted  to  in  this  city. 

We  have  four  hundred  and  thirty-three  miles  of  paved 
streets  (which  alone  receive  our  attention) ;  and  we  have 
actually  at  work,  at  this  writing,  about  fourteen  hundred 
and  fifty  sweepers— broom-men.  This  gives  a  little  less 
than  one  third  of  a  mile,  on  an  average,  to  each  sweeper. 
There  are  naturally  great  deviations  in  this  respect,  the 
actual  number  used  in  different  parts  of  the  city  varying 
about  from  one  to  a  mile  to  seven  to  a  mile,  according  to 
the  character  of  the  pavement,  the  character  and  density 
of  the  population,  the  character  of  the  district,  whether 
manufacturing,  resident,  tenement,  etc.,  and  the  char- 
acter and  amount  of  traffic.  It  is  to  be  understood  that 
under  the  law  our  men  work  only  eight  hours  per  day. 
This  short  time  is  to  an  important  degree  offset  by  the 
fact  that  their  places  are  very  desirable,  and  that  they 
work  hard,  and  in  emergencies  for  longer  hours,  in  order 
that  they  may  keep  their  places.  It  is  a  further  induce- 
ment that  their  positions  are  permanent.  Under  the  law 
as  it  now  exists,  and  is  likely  to  remain,  an  employee  of 
the  department  can  only  be  dismissed  for  cause.  One  of 
these  causes  is  incapacity,  so  that  these  are  by  no  means 
life-positions,  but  good  only  for  the  effective  working- 
years  of  lite. 

That  part  of  Manhattan  Island  lying  below  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fifty-second  Street  is  divided  into  fifty-eight 


STREET- SWEEPING 


39 


sections,  having  pretty  uniformly  seven  miles  of  street 
each.  The  number  of  men  in  these  sections  varies  from 
fifteen  to  thirty-five.  Each  section  is  under  the  control 
of  a  foreman,  who  has  one  or  two  assistants.  The  uni- 
form of  the  foreman  consists  of  a  close-fitting  grayish- 


brown  coat, 
throat,  with  a 
sersof  the  same; 
a  shield  similar 
The  assistants 
form,  with  a 
delta  (A)  hang- 
The  sweepers 
in  white  duck. 


buttoned  to  the 
rolling  collar;  trou- 
a  white  helmet;  and 
to  the  police  badge, 
wear  the  same  uni- 
small  silver-plated 
ing  below  the  shield, 
are  dressed  entirely 
The  coat  is  a  sort  of 


A  SECTION  FOREMAN. 


Norfolk  jacket,  with  a  leather  belt  and  metal  clasp,  with 
metal  buttons;  trousers  which  are  rather  loose;  and  they 
wear  helmets  similar  to  those  of  the  foremen.  Each  wears 
on  his  left  breast  an  oval  metal  badge  bearing  his  number. 
He  is  obliged  to  appear  always  at  morning  roll-call  in  a  tidy 
condition.  As  a  rule,  the  suits  are  changed  on  Thursday 
and  on  Monday,  but  if  soiled  from  any  cause  they  must 
be  changed  more  frequently.    Each  suit  costs  one  dollar 


40 


STREET-CLEANING 


and  twenty-five  cents.  The  cost  of  the  entire  outfit— 
two  suits,  five  buttons,  belt  and  clasp,  and  helmet  with 
monogram— is  four  dollars  and  sixty-three  cents. 

Each  sweeper  is  supplied  with  the  following  imple- 
ments: a  two-wheeled  bag-carrier  and 
a  sufficient  number  of  jute  bags  for  his 
day's    work;  a 
broom  of  African 
bass  with  a  steel 
scraper    at  its 
back,   a  shovel, 


A  SWEEPER  WITH  HIS  BAG-CARRIER  AND  TOOLS. 


and  a  short  broom.  In  summer  he  carries  also  a  water- 
ing-can and  a  key  for  opening  hydrants.  If  he  has  any 
considerable  amount  of  asphalt  in  his  beat,  he  uses  for 
this  a  steel  scraper  about  three  feet  broad,  which  is  very 
effective  for  taking  up  fresh  droppings  and  other  accu- 
mulations. 

If  the  section  is  traversed  by  one  or  more  avenues  of 
heavy  traffic,  a  number— and  sometimes  all— of  the  men 
of  the  section  are  worked  in  gangs  early  in  the  morning 
for  the  first  thorough  cleaning  of  these.  After  that  they 
disperse  and  go  each  to  his  own  route.    As  a  rule,  this 


STREET-  SWEEP  IX  ( i 


41 


route  is  not  changed;  the  same  sweeper  is  employed  upon 
it  from  one  end  of  the  year  to  the  other.  He  becomes 
familiar  with  its  people,  its  shops,  its  stables,  and  what- 
ever else  may  have  to  do  with  the  incidents  of  his  work. 
Occasionally,  from  some 
change  of  condition,  the 
amount  of  work  to  be  done 
is  permanently  increased.  In 
such  cases  the  length  of  the 
route  may  be  shortened;  but 
ordinarily,  if  a  man  grows 
slack  in  his  methods  and  fails 
to  keep  the  route  in  good  or- 
der, he  is  dismissed  and  a 
more  capable  man  put  in  his 
place. 

The  sprinkler  must  be  used 
always  in  dry  wreather,  dur- 
ing the  season  when  it  is  al- 
lowed to  open  the  hydrants— 
from  April  to  November.  Fines  are  imposed  for  raising 
a  dust.  The  accumulations  on  the  streets,  of  whatever 
character,  are,  where  necessary,  loosened  by  the  scraper, 
and  are  then  swept  into  little  piles  within  a  short  radius. 
These  are  then,  with  the  aid  of  the  broom  and  shovel, 
transferred  to  the  bag,  which  is  held  open  by  the  car- 
rier. When  the  bag  is  filled  it  is  stood  on  the  edge  of 
the  sidewalk.  In  wet  weather,  when  the  sweepings  are 
in  a  state  of  solution,  they  are  allowed  to  stand  in  piles 
until  the  free  water  has  drained  away;  but  even  then  the 
material  is  wet  and  heavy,  the  bags  are  much  less  easy 
to  handle,  and  the  cart-horses  are  apt  to  be  overloaded 
because  of  this. 


42 


STREET-CLEANING 


A  few  remote  streets  of  little  population  and  light 
traffic  are  kept  in  suitable  condition  with  one  daily  sweep- 
ing; ordinary  streets  are  swept  twice  a  day,  and  others 
from  three  to  five  times,  according  to  the  exigencies  of 
the  case. 

At  present  the  work  is  divided  about  as  follows: 

63 J  miles  are  swept  once  a  day; 
283J    "      "      "     twice  a  day; 
50J    "      "      "     three  times  a  day; 
35J    "      "      "     four  or  more  times  a  day. 

This  makes  a  total  average  sweeping  of  924.  This  is 
not  perfunctory  work.  The  streets  are  really  clean,  and 
except  for  the  littering,  which  the  police  have  not  yet 
succeeded  in  preventing,  they  always  look  clean.  Mud 
is  unknown,  and  dust  is  vastly  diminished  in  comparison 
with  former  conditions. 


CHAPTER  VI 


CARTING 


EXT  in  importance  to  the  sweeping  of  the  streets 


is  the  work  of  removing  not  only  the  product  of 


-L  1  the  sweeping,  but  all  domestic  and  some  trade 
wastes,  such  as  ashes,  garbage,  paper,  and  rubbish.  In 
the  New  York  department  thirty-two  per  cent,  of  the  dis- 
bursement is  for  "  carting,"  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  laboring-force  is  employed  in  this  part  of  the  work. 
This  includes  about  six  hundred  drivers,  with  horses  and 
carts.    Most  of  the  stable  force  is  charged  to  carting. 

The  carts  start  out  from  the  various  stables  at  an  early 
hour,  and  go  to  the  sections  to  which  they  are  assigned, 
the  same  men  generally  working  on  the  same  routes  year 
in  and  year  out.  They  first  remove  a  load  of  ashes. 
After  this  they  devote  themselves  to  the  carting  of  gar- 
bage until  this  is  all  removed.  The  rest  of  the  day  is 
occupied  in  collecting  the  remaining  ashes  and  the  sweep- 
ings that  may  have  been  gathered  during  the  day.  As 
the  sweeping  continues  until  four  o'clock,  the  cartmen 
are  obliged  to  work  much  later.  They  take  from  one  and 
a  half  to  two  hours'  "  swing  "  at  noon,  but  even  so  they 


43 


44 


STREET-CLEANING 


work  regularly  more  than  the  eight  hours  required  of  the 
sweepers.  We  try  to  so  arrange  it  that  every  cart  shall 
return  to  the  stable  before  6  P.  M.,  but  even  this  is  not 
always  possible. 

In  the  down-town  district,  owing  to  the  crowded  con- 
dition of  the  streets  during  the  day,  it  is  necessary  that 
both  sweeping  and  carting  be  done  at  night.  There  is 
very  little  population  here,  and  the  material  to  be  re- 
moved is  mainly  incident  to  business  traffic. 

The  garbage  hauls  are  very  long,  as  there  are  only  six 
garbage-dumps  for  the  whole  city.  These  dumps  are 
supplied  with  scows  or  other  vessels  by  the  Utilization 
Company.  The  department  loads  the  garbage  upon 
these  vessels,  and  its  connection  with  this  portion  of  the 
work  is  then  at  an  end.  For  street-sweepings  and  ashes 
we  have  seventeen  dumps  at  different  points,  so  located 
as  to  be  within  convenient  reach,  except  in  the  case  of 
the  district  lying  west  of  Central  Park.  On  that  side  of 
the  city  we  have  no  dumping  facilities  of  any  kind  be- 
tween Forty-seventh  Street  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
first  Street,  a  distance  of  nearly  five  miles.  The  removal 
from  the  central  portion  of  this  district  is  across  the  park 
to  the  foot  of  Eightieth  Street,  East  River— a  distance 
of  two  and  a  half  miles,  but  over  very  much  better  grades 
than  the  route  to  Forty-seventh  Street  or  to  One  Hundred 
and  Thirty-first  Street. 

The  street-sweepings  are  collected  in  bags,  as  described 
in  the  previous  chapter.  The  bags  are  loaded  on  the 
carts  without  being  untied,  and  are  emptied  at  the  dump, 
where  they  are  cleaned  and  dried  for  the  next  day's  use. 

Thus  far  ashes  are  almost  entirely  collected  from 
metal  cans  and  other  receptacles  which  are  set  on  the 
sidewalk  inside  of  the  stoop-line  or  in  the  areas  in  front 


CARTING 


46 


of  the  houses.  It  is  in  contemplation  soon  to  extend 
throughout  the  city  an  improved  system  which  has  been 
in  successful  operation  for  more  than  a  year.  Under  this 
system,  each  house  is  supplied  with  a  can  supported  on 
a  tripod  six  or  eight  inches  above  the  floor.  It  has  a 
hinged  cover,  and  the  bottom  is  closed  by  two  flap-doors. 
The  cartman  takes  a  bag  into  the  house  or  area  or  back 
yard,— for  it  is  only  required  that  the  can  be  kept  out  of 
sight  of  the  street  and  protected  from  the  rain,— passes 
the  bag  under  and  around  the  can,  and  attaches  it  to  the 
top  frame  of  the  tripod.  He  then  closes  the  cover  to 
prevent  the  flying  of  dust,  and  operates  the  mechanism 
which  opens  the  doors  at  the  bottom.  The  ashes  run  out 
into  the  bag,  which  is  tied  and  set  on  the  sidewalk  to  be 
removed  with  the  sweepings.  These  bags  also  are  emp- 
tied only  at  the  dump. 

Formerly  the  practice  prevailed  of  removing  in  the 
same  cart  the  sweepings  shoveled  from  little  piles  in  the 
streets  and  the  entire  waste  of  the  house,  which  was  put 
indiscriminately  into  the  receptacles— garbage,  ashes, 
paper,  rubbish,  and  everything,  save  only  such  large  ob- 
jects as  furniture,  mattresses,  etc.  In  189G  the  separa- 
tion of  these  materials  was  taken  in  hand,  and  has  now 
been  completely  effected. 

The  treatment  of  all  other  material  than  garbage, 
sweepings,  and  ashes  remains  to  be  described.  The  re- 
moval of  this  constitutes  what  we  call  the  "  paper  and 
rubbish  "  service.  It  is  ordered  that  all  wastes  of  this 
class  be  kept  in  the  house,  or  at  least  under  cover  and 
out  of  sight  of  the  street.  A  cart  of  special  construction 
is  used  for  the  removal  of  this  material.  It  is  a  very 
large  low-hung  box  on  two  wheels,  and  is  drawn  by  a 
lighter  and  more  active  horse  than  is  required  for  the 


46 


STREET-CLEANING 


heavy  loads  of  the  sweepings  and  ash  service.  This 
material  is  called  for  only  on  the  exposure— as  in  the 
basement  window— of  a  special  "  call "  card.  This  is  red 
and  of  diamond  shape,  with  the  letters  "  P.  R."  in  con- 
spicuous form  in  white  on  the  front.  Printed  instruc- 
tions are  given  on  the  reverse  side. 

This  card  relates  to  the  following  articles:  paper,  gen- 
eral rubbish,  bottles,  rags,  tin  cans,  excelsior,  pasteboard 
boxes,  old  shoes,  leather  and  rubber  scrap,  carpets,  broken 
glass,  barrels,  boxes,  discarded  furniture,  wood,  and  all 
metals. 

Thus  far  the  carts  carrying  these  wastes  dump  their 
loads  upon  the  scows  which  also  receive  the  sweepings 
and  ashes,  but  measures  are  now  being  taken  to  deliver 
them  at  "  Picking-yards,"  where  a  thorough  sorting  will 
be  done  and  everything  of  salable  value  culled  out  and 
made  ready  for  the  market.  This  is  more  fully  described 
in  Chapter  X. 


CHAPTER  VII 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 

TIME-HONORED  custom  of  the  city  of  New  York 


has  been  to  send  its  garbage  to  sea  with  all  of 


1  1l  its  other  wastes,  save  only  the  fat  and  bones 
collected  by  the  scow-trimming  Italians  at  the  dumps. 
By  far  the  largest  proportion  of  garbage  consists  of 
vegetable  refuse,  much  of  which  floats  in  sea-water. 
As  a  result  of  this  method  of  disposal,  the  bathing 
beaches  of  New  Jersey  and  Long  Island  have  often  been 
made  unfit  for  use  by  the  immense  amount  of  offensive 
material  washed  ashore,  especially  during  storms,  and  the 
water  in  the  front  of  the  beaches  is  often  too  foul  for 
bathing  because  of  the  watermelon-rinds,  cabbage-leaves, 
etc.,  floating  in  it. 

The  outcry  for  years  against  this  fouling  of  the  beaches 
has  been  loud  and  strenuous.  Efforts  have  been  made 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  of  the  State  of  New  York 
and  of  the  United  States  to  seek  a  practicable  remedy. 
This  remedy  has  at  last  been  found  in  the  separation  of 
garbage  from  all  other  material,  and  its  delivery  to  a 
company  which  is  charged  with  its  care.    My  expert  as- 


48 


STREET-CLEANING 


sistants  have  been  actively  engaged  in  the  consideration 
of  this  subject  since  the  very  beginning  of  this  adminis- 
tration. The  result  of  their  investigations  is  well  set 
forth  in  the  following  report  of  Mr.  Macdonough  Craven, 
in  chief  charge  of  the  investigation,  written  in  Decem- 
ber, 1895,  as  follows: 

REPORT  OF  MACDONOUGH  CRAVEN  ON  THE  PRELIMINARY 
INVESTIGATIONS  MADE  FOR  THE  DEPARTMENT  AS  TO 
GARBAGE  AND  ITS  TREATMENT 

When  it  was  decided,  early  in  the  year,  to  dispose  of  the  city's 
garbage  by  some  better  method  than  the  old  process  of  dumping 
at  sea,  an  effort  was  made  to  learn  what  system  would  be  best 
suited  to  the  city  of  New  York,  with  its  limited  space  and  its 
large  amount  of  material  to  be  cared  for  daily,  and  what  the 
economies  of  such  a  system  might  be. 

Early  in  March  last,  therefore,  the  various  companies  in  this 
country  engaged  in  the  treatment  of  garbage  were  invited  to 
present  to  this  department  informal  bids  showing  the  prices  at 
which  they  would  be  willing  to  receive  and  properly  dispose  of 
the  garbage  of  New  York  City. 

Twenty-six  answers  were  received  and  opened  on  March  26, 
but  only  one  company  was  willing  to  accept  a  contract  from  the 
city  without  a  subsidy  to  aid  in  the  work.  The  average  of  all 
bids  from  companies  which  proposed  to  cremate  or  destroy  by 
fire  was  ninety  cents  per  ton  of  garbage  delivered,  to  be  paid  by 
the  city;  and  from  companies  which  proposed  to  utilize  the  gar- 
bage, or  convert  its  available  parts  into  grease  and  fertilizer,  the 
average  of  all  bids  was  fifty-five  cents  per  ton.  Only  about  half 
of  the  twenty-six  bidders  were  believed  by  the  department  to  be 
sufficiently  experienced  and  responsible  to  make  offers  from  them 
acceptable  to  the  city. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  make 
an  independent  investigation  of  the  various  methods  proposed, 
since,  on  the  one  hand,  the  city  should  not  be  allowed  to  pay 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


49 


more  than,  under  economical  management,  would  secure  efficient 
service,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  disastrous  to  ac- 
cept a  low  bid  from  any  company  which,  on  limited  experience, 
might  have  underestimated  the  cost,  and  find  itself  losing  money 
and  obliged  to  cease  operations.  No  financial  return  in  the  form 
of  bonded  security  could  recompense  the  city  if  it  should  find  its 
garbage  uncared  for  in  the  midst  of  a  heated  summer. 

Acting  upon  this  theory,  a  circular  letter  was  prepared  and 
sent  to  each  of  the  companies,  proposing  an  examination  of  its 
plant  and  system  by  two  competent  men  from  this  department, 
the  scope  of  the  examination  to  include  the  cost  of  operation,  the 
value  of  the  commercial  products,  and  the  very  important 
questions  of  the  permissible  character  of  the  process  and  its 
adaptability  to  the  needs  of  this  city;  the  minimum  time  of  test 
to  be  thirty  days;  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  the  examiners  to 
be  paid  by  the  company;  the  numerical  results  of  the  test  to  be 
considered  confidential  information  to  this  department. 

Several  of  the  companies  acquiesced  in  the  value  of  such  an 
examination,  and  expressed  their  willingness  to  accede  to  its 
terms. 

Competent  men  were  therefore  selected  for  the  work,  differ- 
ent ones  being  sent  to  different  plants,  in  order  that  the  exami- 
nation might  be  impartial  and  unprejudiced,  and  the  result 
obtained  within  a  reasonably  short  time.  The  tests  were  of 
necessity  summer  tests,  when  garbage  becomes  most  quickly 
offensive,  when  any  odors  arising  from  the  treatment  would 
surely  be  noticeable,  and  when  also  garbage  contains  most 
water  and  is  least  valuable  for  utilization  purposes. 

More  than  three  thousand  tons  of  garbage  in  the  cities  of 
Buffalo,  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn,  and  New  York  were 
treated  by  different  methods,  under  the  supervision  of  your  in- 
spectors. 

One  point  made  clear  by  the  investigation  is  that  when  gar- 
bage is  collected  daily  from  each  house,  from  clean  cans,  and  con- 
veyed at  once  to  a  properly  equipped  reduction  plant,  it  has  not 
time  to  ferment,  even  in  summer,  before  it  is  safely  stowed  away 


50 


STREET-CLEANING 


within  the  steam-tight  cooking-tanks  of  the  reduction  plant;  and 
that  under  these  conditions,  and  under  experienced  management, 
the  operations  of  such  a  factory  can  be  carried  on  with  little 
more  offense  than  arises  from  a  large  kitchen. 

The  first  difficulty  experienced,  in  the  endeavor  to  operate  a 
satisfactory  system  of  collection  and  disposal,  arises  from  the 
tendency  of  some  householders  to  consider  the  cleanliness  of  the 
private  garbage-can  as  the  affair  of  the  city.  If  the  house- 
holder daily  delivers  to  the  garbage-collector  only  the  table  and 
kitchen  refuse  of  the  past  twenty-four  hours,  it  is  evident  that 
there  cannot  be  serious  offense  in  what  was  so  lately  fit  for  the 
table;  but  if  the  can  is  not  thoroughly  cleaned  each  day  after 
being  emptied,  it  will  soon  give  rise  to  odors  and  just  com- 
plaints. 

The  second  difficulty  is  found  in  the  natural  tendency  of  men 
engaged  in  handling  such  waste  material  to  regard  it  as  essen- 
tially unclean,  and  therefore  to  fail  to  maintain  in  a  state  of 
cleanliness  the  carts,  wagons,  and  machinery  in  use. 

When  our  observations  on  this  point  are  condensed,  they 
amount  simply  to  a  statement  of  the  facts  that  garbage  twenty- 
four  hours  old  is  not  offensive  to  the  smell,  either  in  small  or  in 
large  quantities,  but  that  even  minute  remnants  do  become 
offensive  in  two  or  three  days,  and  that  only  unremitting  care 
can  keep  the  cans,  carts,  and  machinery  employed  in  a  cleanly 
condition. 

Kitchen  refuse  consists  of  animal  and  vegetable  scrap,  con- 
taining and  mixed  with  a  large  amount  of  water.  The  animal 
scrap  is  of  value  for  utilization  purposes,  because  it  furnishes 
the  principal  part  of  the  grease  and  ammonia  which  are  the 
salable  products  of  garbage;  and  since  the  cost  of  treating  such 
waste  is  approximately  the  same,  be  it  rich  or  poor,  it  is  plain 
that  the  commercial  value  of  garbage  varies  almost  directly  as 
its  proportion  of  animal  matter.  If  the  amount  of  grease  and 
ammonia  recovered  are  sufficient  to  defray  the  expense  of  treat- 
ment, the  people  of  any  city  may  have  their  garbage  disposed 
of  without  cost;  and  while  this  condition  probably  does  not  now 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


51 


exist  anywhere  on  the  continent,  it  is  an  end  worth  striving  for 
if  it  can  be  accomplished  without  loss  to  the  householder. 

Some  practices  of  the  citizen  which  affect  the  value  of  gar- 
bage have  been  reported.  A  large  proportion  of  people  keep  un- 
covered garbage-cans  or  -barrels,  and  a  vast  majority  of  these 
keep  them  in  yards  or  outhouses,  where  they  are  accessible  to 
every  stray  cat  or  prowling  dog  that  comes,  and  soon  they  come 
regularly.  Some  of  the  investigators  have  watched  troops  of 
cats  making  their  nightly  rounds  from  yard  to  yard,  pulling  out 
of  each  accustomed  barrel  and  can  the  accessible  pieces  of  meat, 
bone,  and  other  delicacies;  and  thus  not  only  is  a  public  nui- 
sance maintained  in  the  form  of  a  howling  mob  of  homeless  cats, 
but  the  garbage  is  culled  of  the  only  parts  that  go  to  make  it 
valuable  to  a  contractor  or  help  to  reduce  the  price  which  the 
city  must  pay  for  its  disposal. 

The  same  trouble  intensified  is  found  when  garbage  is  col- 
lected only  three  times,  or  perhaps  twice,  a  week.  The  cats 
and  dogs  do  just  so  much  more  work.  And  then,  too,  the  tidy 
housekeeper,  to  whom  a  waste-can  is  an  eyesore  under  the  best 
of  circumstances  gets  tired  of  smelling  or  imagining  the  odors 
due  to  two  or  three  days'  decomposition,  and  begins  to  consign, 
not  to  the  garbage-can,  but  to  the  kitchen  fire,  all  that  burns 
most  easily— of  course  the  scraps  containing  grease.  This  is 
waste  of  good  material,  but  it  is  much  better  than  foul  odors 
and  the  midnight  cat.  If  in  this  city,  where  garbage  is  collected 
daily,  the  householder  will  only  keep  a  cover  on  his  can,  he  will 
do  much  toward  lessening  the  cost  of  final  disposition. 

One  can  scarcely  conceive  of  a  crematory  which  destroys 
garbage  by  fire  becoming  a  self-supporting  concern,  since  con- 
siderable fuel  is  necessary  and  the  only  residue  is  ashes;  but  the 
fact  that  there  are  garbage  "  utilization  "  plants  at  once  sug- 
gests that  under  certain  conditions  the  utilizable  material  may 
pay  for  its  own  extraction.  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  say  that 
the  word  "garbage "—which  is  so  loosely  used  in  this  and  a 
few  other  cities  to  denote  any  kind  of  waste,  or  a  mixture  of 
them  all,  including  ashes  and  street-sweepings— is  for  the  pur- 


o2 


STREET-CLEANING 


pose  of  this  investigation  limited  to  animal  and  vegetable  refuse 
from  markets  and  kitchens.  Only  this  is  desirable  in  a  utiliza- 
tion plant.  A  small  admixture  of  cans,  bottles,  and  berry-boxes 
entails  extra  expense  for  separation,  but  is  not  prohibitory  of 
the  process,  while  any  such  mixture  as  we  have  in  New  York 
to-day,  of  ashes,  garbage,  and  a  little  of  everything,  is  pro- 
hibitory. Garbage  must  be  separated  from  everything  else  to 
be  effectively  and  properly  treated,  and  the  other  things  must 
be  separated  from  garbage  to  find,  in  their  turn,  any  useful 
outlet. 

In  connection  with  the  tests,  I  beg  to  call  attention  to  the 
uniform  courtesy  with  which  the  examiners  have  been  received, 
and  the  willing  assistance  offered  at  the  various  working  plants 
inspected.  As  noted  above,  the  salaries  and  all  expenses  of  the 
examiners,  and  the  additional  costs  incidental  to  the  tests,  have 
been  cheerfully  borne  by  the  companies,  and  no  trouble  or  ex- 
pense has  been  spared  by  them  to  further  the  interests  of  the 
investigation.  The  Merz  Universal  Extractor  and  Construction 
Company  submitted  its  operations  to  our  inspection  for  a  term 
of  four  weeks  in  Buffalo  and  two  in  St.  Louis;  and  for  a  further 
test  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  garbage,  and  to  demonstrate 
the  Preston  process,  which  is  controlled  by  the  above  company, 
experiments  were  carried  on  for  two  weeks  in  a  special  plant  in 
Greenpoint,  Long  Island.  The  Sanative  Refuse  Company,  at  an 
expense  of  several  thousand  dollars,  equipped  a  plant  in  New 
York  City  and  conducted  a  continuous  test  of  two  months  for 
the  purpose  of  allowing  us  to  study  their  system  and  to  learn 
the  character  and  composition  of  New  York  garbage.  The 
works  of  the  American  Incinerating  Company  in  Philadelphia 
treated  eighteen  hundred  tons  to  illustrate  their  utilization  sys- 
tem and  the  character  of  Philadelphia  garbage,  while,  for  a 
similar  purpose  in  Brooklyn,  the  American  Reduction  Company 
reduced  eighty-four  tons  under  our  inspection.  The  Holthaus 
plant  at  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  has  undergone  an  exhaustive 
and  costly  test;  and  as  the  company  operating  this  system 
apparently  does  not  receive  all  the  garbage  of  the  city,  it  is 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE  53 


working  under  difficulties  and  at  an  unnecessary  expense.  Not 
withstanding  this,  however,  every  facility  has  been  given  to  the 
department  examiners. 

The  Standard  Construction  and  Utilization  Company  of  Phil- 
adelphia was  inspected  under  the  same  conditions  as  the  above- 
named  companies,  but,  owing  to  difficulties  unforeseen  by  its 
managers,  it  proved  impossible  to  complete  the  test. 

Systematically  arranged,  the  tests  already  made  appear  as 
follows: 

NAME  OF  COMPANY  LOCATION  DATE 

Merz  Universal  Extractor  and  Construction 

Company  Buffalo  .    .  June 

Merz  Universal  Extractor  and  Construction 

Company  St.  Louis    .  July 

Sanative  Refuse  Company        .       .       .    New  York  .  August 

At  these  three  plants  grease  is  extracted  by  the  use  of  hydro- 
carbon oils,  and  the  remaining  solids  are  converted  into  a 
fertilizer  base. 

NAME  OF  COMPANY  LOCATION  DATE 

The  Preston  process        ....    Greenpoint .  July 
The  Bridgeport  Utilization  Company  .       .    Bridgeport  .  February 
American  Incinerating  Company      .       .    Philadelphia  July 

At  these  three  plants  grease  is  extracted  by  mechanical  pres- 
sure, and  the  remaining  solids  are  made  into  a  fertilizer  base. 

NAME  OF  COMPANY  LOCATION  DATE 

Sanative  Refuse  Company  (Pierce  process)  New  York  .  September 
American  Reduction  Company  .  .    Brooklyn    .  May 

Both  these  companies  make  the  garbage  solids  into  a  complete 
fertilizer  ready  for  the  farmer's  use,  but  the  first  extracts  the 
grease  by  means  of  a  solvent,  while  the  second  uses  acid. 

NAME  OF  COMPANY  LOCATION  DATE 

The  Standard  Construction  and  Utilization 

Company  Philadelphia  August 


54 


STREET-CLEANING 


At  this  plant  the  cooking  is  done  in  steam-jacketed  caldrons, 
the  charge  being  agitated  meanwhile,  and  the  grease  separated 
by  flotation  and  skimming. 

These  comprise  most  of  the  best-known  systems,  and  illustrate 
nearly  all  of  what  in  this  country  has  been  reduced  to  practice 
in  the  treatment  of  garbage.  As  yet  we  have  derived  from  the 
house  and  hotel  garbage  only  grease  and  fertilizer  materials. 
Our  two  best-known  means  of  extracting  the  grease  are  (1)  by 
dissolving  it  in  some  liquid  which,  after  being  drawn  off,  may  be 
separated  from  the  grease  and  recovered,  and  (2)  the  mechan- 
ical method  of  forcing  out  warm  grease  under  heavy  pressure. 
During  this  summer's  tests  these  two  methods,  and  all  others 
submitted,  were  carefully  examined  as  to  the  cost  of  operation 
and  the  results  obtained.  The  importance  of  this  becomes  at 
once  evident  when  it  is  known  that  the  forty  to  fifty  pounds  of 
grease  in  a  ton  of  garbage  may  be  extracted  in  such  condition 
as  to  sell  for  three  and  a  half  cents  per  pound,  making  in  value 
about  half  the  available  material  in  garbage,  and  that  if  any 
remains  unextracted  it  is  doubly  lost,  since  it  detracts  from  the 
selling  value  of  the  fertilizer. 

The  facts  to  be  learned,  then,  in  reference  to  grease  extrac- 
tion by  each  method  were  (1)  the  cost  of  operation;  (2)  the 
amount  ol  grease  extracted;  (3)  its  condition— freedom  from 
dirt,  water,  etc.;  (4)  the  amount  unextracted;  and  by  determin- 
ing these  four  points  we  have  not  only  established  the  relative 
efficiencies  of  the  different  methods  practised,  but  have  learned 
the  character  and  value  of  New  York  garbage  as  compared 
with  that  of  other  cities. 

A  special  oaper  upon  the  condition  and  probable  future  of 
the  grease  trade  has  been  prepared  from  information  furnished 
by  dealers  and  consumers  expert  in  the  business,  and  this 
enables  us  to  give  to  garbage  grease,  offered  in  small  or  in 
large  quantities,  its  proper  place  and  value,  and  to  gage  the 
accuracy  of  estimates  which  determine  the  figures  submitted  by 
bidders. 

Regarding  the  solid  matter  of  garbage,  which  after  being 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


r,r, 


cooked  becomes  tankage  or  fertilizer  base  or  complete  fertil- 
izer, there  has  been  established  a  similar  kind  of  information  as 
to  (1)  the  cost  of  getting  rid  of  the  water;  (2)  the  amount  of 
dry  matter  saved  (and  it  is  strange  that  the  same  kind  of  gar- 
bage shows  such  various  results  by  different  methods);  (3)  the 
condition  of  this  dry  matter— whether  it  is  in  a  form  suitable 
for  the  fertilizer  manufacturer  (and  again  it  is  strange  how  it 
varies);  and  (4)  the  amount  of  solid  matter  lost. 

Here,  too,  a  paper  on  the  fertilizer  trade,  similar  to  that  on 
the  grease  trade,  has  been  prepared,  and  from  similar  sources. 

The  relation  of  these  factories  to  the  health  of  the  commu- 
nity in  which  they  are  situated  is  determined  by  the  cleanliness 
of  the  building  and  machinery,  the  manner  and  condition  in 
which  the  garbage  water  is  got  rid  of,  and  the  character  and 
amount  of  odors  which  escape.  So  much  progress  has  been 
made  of  late  years,  and  so  many  difficulties  have  been  over- 
come, some  by  one  company  and  some  by  another,  that  it  seems 
safe  now  to  say  that  if  the  best  that  is  known  on  the  subject 
could  be  put  into  practice  in  one  factory,  that  factory  could 
with  freedom  be  located  in  any  city  on  the  continent. 

It  has  been  found  necessary  also  to  make  a  detailed  study, 
covering  several  weeks  of  the  present  disposition  of  the  gar- 
bage and  grease  wastes  of  the  city  hotels,  restaurants,  and 
large  boarding-houses.  Many  of  these  had  made  contracts  with 
private  parties  for  the  disposal  of  their  garbage  before  the  city 
was  in  position  to  care  for  it,  and  even  since  that  time  the 
hours  of  removal  by  the  city  have  not  always  met  the  necessi- 
ties of  such  establishments,  and  many  of  the  private  contracts 
have  been  continued.  This  study  was  part  of  the  general  plan 
for  determining  the  character  and  amount  of  recoverable 
kitchen  waste  in  this  city  of  meat-eaters  not  noted  for  exces- 
sive economy,  and  a  valuable  part,  since  in  these  places  the 
separation  of  garbage  from  other  matters  has  always  been 
carefully  made. 

An  examination  of  the  libraries  has  furnished  much  useful  in- 
formation from  the  cities  of  Europe  in  reference  to  the  amount 


56 


STREET-CLEANING 


of  their  garbage,  its  value,  and  the  adopted  methods  of  disposal, 
and  both  prepared  the  way  for  a  comparison  of  their  methods 
with  ours,  and  enabled  us  to  set  a  standard  below  which  we 
need  not  fall. 

The  reports  from  the  various  examiners,  upon  being  submitted, 
have  been  collated  and  corresponding  tables  prepared.  A  gen- 
eral report  is  herewith  submitted. 

The  methods  considered  cover  the  hydrocarbon,  acid,  and 
mechanical  processes. 

Hydrocarbon  processes  extract  the  grease  more  thoroughly 
than  any  other  method  inspected. 

Acid  processes  do  not,  as  a  rule,  give  good  results  as  far  as 
grease  is  concerned. 

Mechanical  processes  extract  a  fair  percentage  of  the  grease. 

The  tankage  is  of  varying  quality,  according  to  the  method 
used  and  the  class  of  garbage  handled.  All  reduction  methods, 
properly  conducted,  can  be  made  unobjectionable  from  the 
sanitary  point  of  view.  The  faults  seem  to  come  from  a  want 
of  experience  in  construction,  for  what  has  been  found  offensive 
in  one  plant  has  been  so  handled  in  another  as  to  be  entirely 
without  offense. 

The  material  received  in  the  different  cities  shows  a  great 
difference.    This  is  due  to  the  following  causes: 

1.  Season  of  the  year. 

2.  Geographical  and  trade  location  of  the  city. 

3.  Variation  of  the  regulations  in  force. 

4.  Delinquencies  of  the  officials  in  enforcing  proper  separa- 
tion, and  the  consequent  carelessness  of  the  collectors,  resulting 
in  the  delivery  at  the  dumps  or  works  of  many  things  not  prop- 
erly belonging  to  city  garbage. 

The  different  seasons  of  the  year  show  different  classes  of 
garbage.  During  the  winter  the  garbage  is  less  in  bulk  and 
greater  in  weight.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  many  canned 
and  only  a  few  green  vegetables  are  used.  During  the  summer 
the  quantity  is  larger,  but  the  weight  in  proportion  to  the  bulk 
is  less.    This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  green  stuff  or  waste 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


57 


from  fresh  vegetables  is  predominant.  During  the  summer 
months,  also,  a  much  larger  proportion  of  refuse  incidental  to 
the  handling  of  fruits  and  vegetables  is  mixed  with  the  gar- 
bage. The  different  seasons  may  also  be  divided,  as,  for  ex- 
ample, periods  covering  such  as  green-corn  time,  pea-pod  time, 
melon  time,  and  so  on. 

Geographical  location  controls  garbage  to  the  extent  of 
determining  the  classes  of  vegetable  and  animal  food  that  are  in 
general  use.  Furthermore,  as  all  cities  are  more  or  less  trade 
centers  and  cosmopolitan  in  character,  the  floating  population 
varies  with  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  markets'  business 
varies  in  accordance  therewith.  The  increase  in  population 
makes  an  increase  in  the  waste. 

The  regulations  of  the  various  municipalities  in  some  cases 
permit  rubbish  to  be  mixed  with  the  garbage,  and  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  this  rubbish  are  not  clearly  defined. 

The  delinquencies  of  officials,  drivers,  collectors,  etc.,  arise 
from  carelessness,  personal  gain  by  collusion  with  those  inter- 
ested in  the  works  or  with  the  householders,  or  an  honest  belief 
that  they  can  improve  on  regulations  and  benefit  the  cities 
thereby.    The  last-mentioned  class  is  very  small. 

It  is  found  by  investigation  that  the  averages  of  collection  and 
disposal  vary.    This  variation  can  be  traced  to  several  causes: 

1.  Method  of  disposition. 

2.  Whether  the  city  or  a  contractor  makes  the  collections. 

3.  The  regulations;  that  is,  whether  they  permit  of  the  gar- 
bage being  overhauled  by  rag-pickers,  etc. 

4.  Frequency  of  collections. 

If  the  garbage  and  general  refuse  are  hauled  to  dumps,  and  the 
haul  is  long,  the  cartmen  or  drivers,  especially  in  rainy  or 
otherwise  disagreeable  weather,  if  opportunity  offers,  will  lessen 
their  work  by  dumping  at  the  most  convenient  place. 

If  the  city  refuse  is  burned,  the  material  best  adapted  to  the 
furnace  is  generally  delivered,  that  is,  combustible  refuse. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  reduced,  combustible  refuse  is  not 
especially  desirable.  * 


58 


STREET-CLEANING 


If  the  city  makes  the  collections,  and  the  cartmen  are  not 
closely  supervised,  they  are  liable  to  give  poor  service,  and  the 
householder,  in  order  to  improve  on  that  service,  will  employ 
private  collectors. 

The  collections  made  by  private  cartmen  are  not  handled  by 
the  city  as  a  rule,  and  therefore  all  record  of  such  collections 
is  lost. 

Again,  if  a  contractor  makes  the  collections,  it  depends 
largely  on  the  basis  of  payment;  that  is,  if  the  payments  are 
made  in  a  lump  sum,  the  tendency  of  the  contractor  is  to  collect 
as  small  a  quantity  as  possible,  whereas,  if  the  payment  is  per 
ton  or  per  cubic  yard,  there  is  a  tendency  to  collect  everything 
of  sufficient  weight  or  bulk  to  make  the  collection  as  large  as 
possible.    Percentages  of  collections  per  capita,  therefore,  vary. 

The  third  case  under  consideration  depends  on  the  inspectors, 
police,  health  board,  or  whomsoever  controls  the  work  or  super- 
vises it.  Should  the  supervision  be  lax,  or  the  regulations  per- 
mit, a  large  part  of  the  refuse  will  be  culled  from  the  receptacles 
by  rag-pickers  and  scavengers,  and  large  quantities  will  thus  be 
disposed  of  in  an  insalutary  manner,  also  to  the  detriment  of 
correct  data  of  quantity,  and  the  streets  will  be  strewn  with 
rubbish  aL-  well. 

Nothing  better  than  the  method  of  collection  pursued  in  this 
city  has  so  far  presented  itself. 

The  frequency  of  collection  has  a  strong  bearing  on  the 
quantity  collected.  This  is  shown  by  the  annexed  tables,  and 
may  be  due  to  several  causes.  Infrequent  collection  affords 
more  opportunities  for  scavengers,  both  men  and  animals,  to 
overhaul  and  deplete  the  waste. 

The  rubbish  mixed  with  garbage  is  mainly  tin  cans;  besides 
these  there  are  bottles,  rags,  crockery,  berry-baskets  (especially 
in  fruit  season),  wood  scraps,  metal,  and  all  conceivable  kinds 
of  refuse.  A  three-foot  section  of  sixty-pound  T-rail  was  deliv- 
ered at  one  of  the  works  as  garbage. 

The  cans  are  sold,  the  solder  is  in  some  cases  recovered,  and 
the  body  of  the  can  melted  down.    They  are  a  great  nuisance 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


59 


to  reduction  plants,  as  in  several  processes  they,  or  a  part  of 
them,  are  dumped  into  the  extractors  or  the  driers,  as  the  case 
may  be.  If  these  cans  do  not  fall  bottom  side  up  in  the  extrac- 
tors, they  not  only  hold  what  grease  is  in  them,  but  also  what- 
ever finds  its  way  into  them  while  in  the  extractor.  The  cans 
in  quantity  in  the  driers  cause  considerable  wear  on  the  ma- 
chinery, which  may  more  than  offset  their  value  as  auxiliary 
disintegrators,  as  will  be  set  forth  in  the  discussion  on  driers. 

Those  that  are  culled  from  the  fresh  or  green  garbage— all 
rubbish,  in  fact,  culled  from  garbage— should  be  disinfected 
before  being  marketed. 

The  next  matter  of  importance,  as  far  as  rubbish  is  concerned, 
is  the  rags.  These  rags  are  in  some  cases  delivered  with  the 
garbage  in  large  quantities.  They  are  culled  for  various  rea- 
sons—for marketing,  to  be  used  as  combustibles  in  furnaces, 
and  also  to  keep  them  clear  of  the  machinery,  which  they  are 
liable  to  clog  to  a  great  extent,  more  especially  in  rotary  driers. 

The  other  rubbish,  with  the  exception  of  the  bottles  and 
crockery,  is  generally  thrown  into  the  furnace  and  consumed. 

The  above  remarks  apply  more  generally  to  reduction  plants 
than  to  crematories,  as  in  crematories  combustible  refuse  mixed 
with  the  garbage  aids  and  cheapens  the  cost  of  cremation,  and 
tin  cans  keep  the  garbage  more  or  less  separated,  thus  permit- 
ting the  heat  to  work  through. 

Nearly  all  the  nuisances  that  arise  or  are  complained  of  in 
regard  to  garbage  originate  from  the  free  water  mixed  with 
the  garbage.  This  drips  from  the  carts,  or  is  spilled  from  them 
in  dumping,  in  varying  quantities.  It  has  that  sour  or  swill 
smell  so  prevalent  and  so  well  known.  This  free  water  can  be 
traced  to  three  causes:  rain,  waste  water  of  cooking,  exudations 
from  the  vegetables  themselves. 

The  rain-water  is  not,  as  a  rule,  of  sufficient  quantity  to  de- 
mand attention.  If,  however,  the  haul  is  long,  the  cart  open, 
and  the  receptacles  have  been  standing  some  time  before  col- 
lection, then  the  quantity  of  rain-w<^ter  mixed  with  the  garbage 
is  more  than  would  be  expected,  and  is,  in  fact,  at  times  very 


60 


S  TREET-  CLEANING 


large.  The  usual  quantity  of  free  water  is  in  the  neighborhood 
of  ten  per  cent,  by  weight,  or  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  gallons 
per  ton. 

The  waste  water  of  cooking  forms  a  large  part  of  the  ten  per 
cent.,— in  fact,  nearly  all  of  it,— and  is  something  to  be  avoided. 
Should  it  go  to  the  sewer?  Certainly  it  should  not  be  permitted 
to  pollute  the  public  streets  through  the  bottoms  of  leaky  carts. 

The  small  quantity  which  exudes  from  the  garbage  itself  can 
hardly  be  considered. 

It  is  this  swill  water  and  the  grease  which  clings  to  the  sides 
and  bottoms  of  the  household  receptacles  and  of  the  garbage 
carts  which  make  them  offensive;  and  if  these  receptacles  and 
carts  are  not  cleansed  properly,  and  as  often  as  necessary,  the 
foul  odors  which  arise  give  constant  and  just  cause  for  com- 
plaint. This  free  water  is  not  desired  by  crematories,  but  is  ad- 
vantageous to  certain  reduction  plants. 

In  connection  with  the  above,  it  might  be  well  to  speak  of  the 
receptacles  and  carts  in  general  use. 

The  receptacles  are  not,  as  a  rule,  of  the  proper  shape,  being 
cylindrical  in  form  and  too  high  in  proportion  to  the  diameter, 
making  them  difficult  to  empty.  A  receptacle  of  wide  mouth 
and  narrow  bottom  could  be  more  rapidly  emptied,  more  easily 
cleansed,  and  would  therefore  be  more  acceptable  to  both  the 
householder  and  the  cartman. 

"  Galvanized-iron  pails  with  covers  are  recommended.  If  the 
contents  are  kept  properly  dry,  fermentation  and  the  production 
of  offensive  gases  are  avoided,  even  although  the  temperature  of 
the  air  is  high  "  ("  A  Treatise  on  Hygiene  and  Public  Health  "). 

The  carts  in  general  use  are  of  metal  and  tight-bottomed. 
The  patterns  vary;  some  are  covered,  some  open. 

"  Large  metal  carts,  like  our  '  trucks,'  with  springs  to  prevent 
noise,  and  with  close-fitting  wooden  covers,  made  in  sections,  so 
that  the  entire  cover  need  not  be  raised  for  the  introduction  of 
each  pailful  of  garbage,  are  most  in  favor  in  German  cities." 

Daily  removal  is  best. 

After  culling,  the  garbage  treated  at  the  different  works 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE  61 


visited  was,  as  a  rule,  similar  in  character.  It  was  principally 
summer  garbage  and  largely  vegetable  and  fruit  waste.  This 
summer  garbage,  on  account  of  its  bulk,  has  to  be  handled 
more  rapidly  than  that  of  the  winter.  It  is  therefore  not  so 
carefully  culled,  although,  as  it  contains  fewer  ingredients  of 
value,  it  may  be  more  rapidly  worked. 

The  winter  garbage  does  not  contain  so  much  vegetable 
waste,  but  on  account  of  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  large 
quantities  of  ice  occasionally  contained  therein,  more  fuel  is 
necessary  to  dispose  of  it;  but  the  value  of  winter  garbage  is 
greater  than  that  of  summer. 

The  variation  in  the  per  cent,  of  useless  tailings  from  reduc- 
tion plants  is  due  to  the  "  efficiency  of  separation  "  by  the  cities, 
also  to  the  manner  of  screening  in  use  at  the  various  works;  but 
it  is  not  due  to  the  process.  That  is,  the  percentage  of  availa- 
ble solid  matter  for  fertilizer  contained  in  garbage  is  practically 
constant,  but  if  the  authorities  permit  extraneous  matter  to  be 
mixed  with  the  garbage,  or  if  the  mesh  of  the  screen  used  in 
screening  dried  tankage  is  small,  then  the  per  cent,  of  waste  is 
increased. 

These  tailings  are  used  for  various  purposes,  but  are  gener- 
ally burned.  They  have  a  distinct  value,  as  compared  with 
coal,  as  a  fuel.  Although  the  fires  have  to  be  carefully  cleansed 
after  each  burning  of  tailings,  still  they  reduce  the  price  of  fuel 
per  ton  of  garbage  worked. 

In  many  of  the  processes  more  of  the  tailings  could  be  used 
for  fertilizer  if  the  process  of  separating  them  was  complete. 
The  only  question  is,  Would  a  more  expensive  process,  and  one  ' 
taking  more  time,  pay  for  the  slight  additional  percentage  of 
available  tankage  over  and  above  the  gain  made  by  the  tailings 
used  as  fuel  ? 

The  gases  and  vapors  that  are  driven  off  from  the  garbage 
during  the  working  of  the  same  are  disposed  of  in  two  ways— 
by  condensation  and  by  cremation. 

Vapors  that  are  condensed  are  liable  to  be  more  offensive  in 
the  end  than  those  thnt  are  burned.    Condensation  also  is  not 


62 


STREET-CLEANING 


liable  to  be  very  effective,  as  the  foul  vapors  are  driven  off  to- 
gether with  large  quantities  of  steam.  The  steam  and  vapors 
will  naturally  mix  as  far  as  possible.  These  vapors,  surcharged 
with  steam,  are  carried  to  the  condenser  and  there  expected  to 
take  up  or  to  be  taken  up  by  greater  quantities  of  water.  The 
condensed  vapors,  however,  mixed  with  the  water  of  condensa- 
tion, are  carried  off  to  the  sewer. 

Gases  passing  over  with  the  vapors  would  presumably  be 
washed  in  this  process;  they  would  not  of  necessity  be  made 
harmless,  and  the  water  might  be  very  disagreeable. 

Where  the  gases  are  burned  they  are  passed  directly  through 
the  furnace  fires  and  thence  up  the  stack  to  the  open  air.  They, 
together  with  the  vapors,  are  heated  to  a  high  degree  of  tem- 
perature, or  burned,  and  float  away  over  the  heads  of  the 
people,  instead  of  running  under  their  feet,  as  in  the  condensa- 
tion process.  If  the  stacks  are  high  enough  and  the  tempera- 
ture sufficiently  great,  these  heated  vapors  will  float  to  a  long 
distance  before  cooling  and  descending  to  an  objectionable  level. 
They  are  probably  by  that  time  so  mixed  with  air  as  to  be 
scarcely  appreciable.  On  damp  or  rainy  days,  however,  they 
would  undoubtedly  be  brought  to  the  ground  more  rapidly  than 
during  dry  weather. 

Sentiment  controls  largely  the  complaints  which  arise  on  ac- 
count of  garbage. 

The  householder  who  properly  separates  the  garbage  will  not 
find  it  more  offensive  than  the  soiled  plates  removed  day  by  day 
from  his  table,  and  if  the  receptacle  was  as  religiously  cleansed 
as  the  soiled  plates  there  would  be  no  offensive  odors  therefrom. 
Fresh  garbage  is  inoffensive. 

Where  garbage  is  collected  and  permitted  to  stand  in  quanti- 
ties, it  is  not  generally  dangerous  to  life  until  it  becomes  putrid. 
This  condition  arises,  of  course,  more  rapidly  during  the  heat  of 
the  summer  than  at  other  seasons  of  the  year.  Where  this 
garbage  is  collected  in  mass  and  allowed  to  stand,  disinfec- 
tants are  undoubtedly  necessary.  This  would  also  be  the  case 
where  the  collections  are  made,  as  they  are  in  some  cities,  at 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE 


63 


intervals  of  three  days  or,  when  Sunday  intervenes,  four  days 
apart. 

Garbage  collected  every  day  can  be  hauled  through  the  streets 
without  being  specially  disagreeable  to  the  passer-by.  It  is  not 
prejudicial  to  the  public  health  when  fresh,  and  cannot  be  gen- 
erally considered  so  until  it  makes  itself  offensive. 

Disinfectants  in  general  use  are  well  known— chloride  of  lime, 
permanganate  of  potash,  and  the  dead  oils  of  tar.  A  very  ad- 
vantageous method  of  disinfecting  both  carts  and  garbage  is  in 
use  in  Buffalo.  Creolin,  mixed  with  water,  is  loaded  in  a  tank 
charged  with  compressed  air.  This  tank  is  fitted  with  a  short 
hose  and  spray-nozzle  and  is  attached  to  the  cart.  When  the 
cartman  finds  a  receptacle  that,  in  his  judgment,  needs  disin- 
fecting, it  is  first  emptied  and  then  sprayed.  The  garbage  on 
the  cart  is  then  sprayed  with  the  disinfectant.  This  gives,  ap- 
parently, very  good  results. 

Dead  oils  of  tar  and  permanganate  of  potash  are  generally 
used  in  and  about  the  works  and  on  the  floors  thereof.  The 
dead  oils  of  tar,  ^n  account  of  their  cheapness  and  because  they 
have  no  appreciable  odor  of  their  own,  are  in  common  use. 

In  the  hydrocarbon  processes  the  hydrocarbons  used  while 
extracting  grease  are  also  well  known  as  disinfectants,  naphtha 
being  generally  used  in  the  preparation  of  edible  greases.  In 
the  mechanical  processes,  or  steam  processes,  steam  itself  is  a 
disinfectant.  Where  rubbish  such  as  tin  cans,  rags,  etc.,  is 
disinfected,  it  is  generally  done  with  steam. 

Steam  at  a  temperature  of  220°  F.  will  destroy  all  disease 
germs  in  four  hours'  time.  Steam  under  pressure  is  more 
valuable,  for  the  reason  that  it  is  more  penetrating.  Steam  in 
motion  is  also  more  efficacious  than  steam  at  rest. 

Heat  is  the  oldest  disinfectant  known.  It  is  also  probably 
the  best,  as  it  is  destructive  of  all  organic  life. 

The  driers  in  general  use  are  cylindrical  driers,  steam- 
jacketed,  with  revolving  reels.  The  shell  of  the  drier  is  of 
cast-iron  or  steel  plate.  The  cast-iron  shell  is  preferable,  as  it 
does  not  erode  as  rapidly  under  the  jetton  of  the  gases  or  the 


64 


STREET-CLEANING 


grinding  of  the  material.  The  shell,  also,  of  cast-iron  driers  is 
not  subject  to  leakage,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in  steel-plate 
shells. 

The  garbage  is  dried  either  while  fresh  or  after  treatment. 
Where  fresh  garbage  is  shot  into  the  driers,  the  swill  water  is 
advantageous,  because  it  assists  in  disintegration.  Tin  cans  and 
other  hard  refuse,  such  as  crockery,  etc.,  are  also  advantageous 
lo  a  certain  degree,  as  they  help  the  revolving  paddles  to  grind 
the  material.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  a  cylindrical  drier  fills 
three  positions  when  used  on  fresh  garbage:  it  dries,  it  grinds, 
and  it  cooks.  The  dried  garbage,  therefore,  is  pretty  thor- 
oughly cooked  and  pulverized  when  it  leaves  the  drier.  In 
general,  in  this  part  of  the  process  about  sixty  per  cent,  of 
moisture  is  driven  off. 

The  operations  of  driers  are  continuous.  They  are  loaded 
from  the  top  and  discharged  from  the  bottom.  There  is  no 
necessity  of  shutting  them  down,  except  for  repairs. 

When  the  material  is  dried  after  treatment  the  drier  also 
acts  partially  as  a  mill,  but  in  this  case  no  cooking  goes  on.  A 
certain  proportion  of  foreign  substance  is  also  useful  in  this 
partial  milling  process.  The  work  of  the  drier  in  this  latter 
case  is  not  so  great  as  where  the  green  garbage  is  first  dried, 
nor  is  tfeg£  wear  and  tear  on  the  machinery  so  great,  nor  is  so 
much  heat  necessary,  as  there  is  a  less  quantity  of  moisture  to 
evaporate.  As  will  be  readily  seen,  therefore,  the  number  of 
driers  per  ton  of  garbage  would  be  less  than  in  the  former  case. 

The  gases  and  vapors  driven  off  by  the  driers  go  to  the  con- 
densers or  through  the  furnaces.  In  cases  where  cooking  is 
first  done,  the  gases  and  vapors  go  from  the  digesters  to  the 
condensers  or  through  the  furnaces.  The  lead  pipes  to  the  con- 
densers or  furnaces  should  be  of  cast-iron,  as  wrought-iron  has 
not  been  found  satisfactory  in  actual  practice.  This  is  due  to 
the  erosive  effect  of  the  vapors  driven  off.  It  is  conclusive, 
then,  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  have  the  driers  or 
digesters  as  close  to  the  furnaces  as  is  practicable. 

The  extractors  and  digesters  as  a  rule  are  of  about  five  tons. 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE  65 


capacity,  although  they  are  generally  considered  to  hold  much 
more.  Whether  the  overestimate  is  the  fault  of  the  construc- 
tors or  of  the  operators,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain,  as  the  gar- 
bage treated  therein  varies  in  proportion  of  bulk  to  weight 
through  the  different  seasons  of  the  year.  Constructors  are 
liable  to  make  the  extractors  as  small  as  possible,  on  account 
of  the  room  which  they  occupy  in  a  building.  For  this  reason 
their  cubic  contents  may  have  been,  in  some  instances,  de- 
creased. 

The  operators  are  desirous  of  showing  as  large  a  capacity  in 
their  plant  as  possible,  and  therefore  may  overestimate  the 
weight  of  green  or  dried  garbage  that  the  extractors  hold. 

This  portion  of  the  machinery  is  built  of  varying  weights  of 
metal,  as  different  operations  and  operators  use  different  pres- 
sures of  steam  or  naphtha,  as  the  case  may  be. 

In  cases  where  the  grease  is  extracted  by  pressure  the  presses 
inspected  have  been  of  the  same  general  character.  The  re- 
sults shown  are  sufficient  to  indicate  that  the  pressing  process, 
although  more  rnpid  than  the  naphtha  process,  does  not  extract 
so  large  a  percentage  of  grease.  Constant  advances  are  being 
made  in  this  direction,  however,  and  the  presumption  is  that 
within  a  short  time  much  better  results  will  be  obtained  than 
at  present  from  the  press. 

The  tankage  from  the  press  is  generally  more  noticeable,  as 
far  as  odor  is  concerned,  than  that  from  the  extractor  in  hydro- 
carbon or  acid  processes,  the  hydrocarbons  and  acids  acting  as 
deodorizers.  As  this  tankage  has  been  thoroughly  disinfected 
by  steam  boiling,  etc.,  and  has  been  maintained  at  a  tempera- 
ture above  212°  F.  for  several  hours,  it  is  presumably  as  thor- 
oughly disinfected  as  in  any  other  case;  but  there  is  a  stronger 
odor,  which  has  been  so  frequently  described  as  that  of  sweet- 
ened coffee,  plum-pudding,  gingerbread,  caramel,  etc.  The 
choice  of  a  name  depends  largely  upon  the  last  dinner  eaten. 

The  milling  and  screening  are  generally  done  in  separate 
rooms.  The  finished  product  is  screened  in  rotary  screens,  and 
the  foreign  substances  and  coarse  material  separated  from  the 


66 


STREET-CLEANING 


fine  material.  The  foreign  substances  and  coarse  matter  from 
the  screen,  generally  termed  tailings,  are  separated  on  the  tail- 
ing-board. The  coarse  fertilizer  stuff  is  carried  to  a  mill  and 
ground.  The  tailings,  composed  of  combustible  and  non-com- 
bustible refuse  (but  very  little  of  the  latter),  are  burned  or 
thrown  away.  The  product  of  the  mill  is  mixed  with  the 
screened  material. 

In  some  cases  everything  which  comes  from  the  drier  or  ex- 
tractor goes  through  the  mill,  only  the  coarser  and  more  appa- 
rent waste  being  separated  before  milling.  This  gives  a  more 
even  run  of  finished  tankage,  but  presumably  one  that  would 
not  show  so  high  an  analysis,  tankage  being  sold  by  analysis— 
that  is,  in  accordance  with  the  phosphoric  acid,  potash,  and 
ammonia  contained  therein. 

During  the  process  of  milling,  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
finished  product  does  not  ignite.  There  is  so  much  iron  and 
metal  of  other  kinds  in  the  finished  tankage  that  care  has  to  be 
observed  to  prevent  firing  in  the  mill.  While  milling  or  screen- 
ing, also,  quantities  of  fine  dust  are  liable  to  be  freed  and  mixed 
with  the  atmosphere.  It  is  this  fine  dust  which  carries  the 
odor  from  the  factory,  especially  if  the  rooms  be  not  closed  and 
a  breez.  has  an  opportunity  to  get  at  this  dust.  It  is  a  ques- 
tion, also,  if  the  insurance  companies  do  not  consider  that  this 
floating  material  adds  to  the  risk  of  insurance.  That,  together 
with  the  naphtha  used  in  some  processes  and  acids  in  others, 
would,  and  probably  does,  affect  the  rate  of  insurance. 

The  dust  from  the  mill  is  taken  care  of  in  various  ways, 
usually  by  means  of  a  suction-fan,  the  mill  itself  being  tightly 
inclosed.  This  dust,  on  analysis,  shows  a  higher  per  cent,  of 
merchantable  products  than  the  milled  stuff  itself;  but  it  is  so 
small  in  proportion  to  the  bulk  of  material  handled  that  it 
would  scarcely  pay  to  collect  it. 

The  screens  used  are  of  varying  diameters  and  size  of  mrsh. 
The  rapidity  with  which  they  are  revolved  is  also  another  factor 
to  be  considered.  They  clog  chiefly  from  nails  and  rags,  and  it 
may  be  found  necessary  to  stop  them  at  intervals  in  order  to 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE  G7 

free  the  mesh.  These  rags,  by  the  by,  are  a  difficult  factor  in 
the  working  of  garbage  during  nearly  all  stages  of  the  process. 

TABLE  SHOWING  QUANTITY  OF  GARBAGE  PER  CAPITA  COLLECTED 


Buffalo   0.245  lbs.  per  day 

Boston   0.946  11 

Wilmington  ....  0.805  " 

St.  Louis      ....  0.277  " 

New  Bedford        .       .       .  0.890  " 

Cincinnati     ....  0.566  "  " 

Philadelphia  .    ~  .       .       .  0.332  "       "      for  3  districts 

Lowell   0.408  " 


TABLE  SHOWING  AVERAGE  COMPOSITION  OF  GARBAGE  AND  ITS 
SELLING  VALUE 

Three  thousand  tons  of  summer  garbage,  from  different  cities, 
treated  by  different  methods,  show  a  general  average  compo- 
sition of 

Rubbish   .       .     7  per  cent.,  or    140  lbs.  per  ton  of  garbage 
Water     .       .71       "         "  1,420  " 
Grease  .     2  "40  " 

Tankage  .       .20       "         u    400  " 

100       *         "  2,000  " 


The  selling  value  of  a  ton  of  garbage  when  thus  treated  is: 

Grease,  40  lbs.,  at  3  cents  $1.20 

C  Ammonia,  13  lbs.,  at  8  cents        ....  1.04 

Tankage  %  Phosphoric  acid,  13  lbs.,  at  1  cent  .  .  .  .13 
(  Potash,  3  lbs.,  at  S\  cents  10 


&U7 


CHAPTER  VIII 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  STREET-SWEEPINGS  AND  ASHES 

HUS  far  most  of  the  matters  collected  by  the  de- 


partment carts,  with  the  exception  of  garbage, 


A  have  been  all  dumped  together  on  the  scows  and 
taken  to  sea.  The  separate  treatment  of  paper  and  rub- 
bish has  been  inaugurated,  and  will  before  very  long  be- 
come universal,  so  that  it  is  proposed  in  this  chapter  to 
treat  the  final  disposition  of  street-sweepings  and  ashes 
as  it  is  to  be  when  this  shall  have  been  made  com- 
plete. 

At  present  there  are  thirteen  Barney  dumping-boats 
and  a  varying  number  of  scows  used  for  this  service. 
The  carts  collect  ashes  and  street-sweepings  at  the  same 
time,  and  dump  them  together  upon  the  vessels.  These 
are  towed  to  a  point  beyond  the  light-ship,  some  ten  miles 
outside  of  Sandy  Hook,  where  they  are  either  dumped  or 
unloaded  by  hand  into  the  sea.  When  there  is  a  demand 
for  this  material  for  filling  (as  there  happens  to  be  at 
this  writing),  so  much  of  it  as  is  called  for  is  loaded  on 
deck-scows  and  taken  by  contractors  to  the  lands  to  be 
filled,  and  unloaded  by  them,  the  scows  being  returned 


68 


DISPOSAL  OF  SWEEPINGS  AND  ASHES  69 


to  the  dumps.  The  contractor  receives  for  the  service  a 
cash  sum,  which  is  considerably  less  than  would  be  the 
cost  to  the  department  of  towing  to  sea. 

This  wrhole  system  is  soon  to  be  radically  changed.  It 
is  proposed  to  use  all  of  the  ashes  and  sweepings  collected 


NEAR  THE  LIGHT-SHIP,  SANDY  HOOK.     UNLOADING  DECK-SCOWS 
WITH  FORKS. 

About  twenty  Italians  unload  the  cariro  <»f  a  deck-scow  in  about  two  and 
one  half  hours.  In  1896  over  TOO. (XX)  cubic  yards  of  refuse  were  disposed  of 
in  this  manner,  on  1531  scows,  at  an  average  cost  of  17.9  cents  per  cubic  yard. 

by  the  department  at  Biker's  Island,  in  the  East  River, 
nearly  opposite  Morris  Point,  for  filling  in  a  shoal  behind 
a  bulkhead  constructed  for  its  protection,  or  for  raising 
the  level  of  the  lower  part  of  the  land. 

Outside  of  the  bulkhead  there  will  be  constructed,  with 
suitable  piling,  a  pen  or  inclosure  into  which  the  vessels 
will  be  taken,  their  contents  being  there  dumped.  Pump- 


70 


STREET-CLEANING 


ing-machinery  will  be  provided  of  sufficient  capacity  to 
take  up  the  material  so  dumped  and  move  it  in  a  strong 
current  of  water  through  the  pumps  and  through  long 
pipes  or  canvas  conveyers  to  the  point  of  deposit.  This 
system  for  moving  earth,  etc.,  has  been  largely  and  suc- 


A  BARNEY  DUMPER  AT  SEA,  WITH  ITS  TUG. 

The  boat  has  been  opened  and  is  being  towed  along,  the  seaway  washing 
out  the  load.  When  empty  the  boat  closes  by  dotation.  The  department 
employs  a  fleet  of  thirteen  Barney  dumpers,  which  in  1X9(5  carried  to  sea  over 
1, 140,000  cubic  yards  of  refuse,  al  an  average  cost  of  13.8  cents  per  cubic  yard. 


cessfully  used  on  the  Potomac  Flats  at  Washington,  in 
government  work  at  League  Island,  below  Philadelphia, 
and  on  the  Cambridge  border  of  Charles  River,  near  Bos- 


DISPOSAL  OF  SWEEPINGS  AND  ASHES  71 

ton.  It  was  also  used  in  the  construction  of  the  North 
Sea  Canal  in  Holland. 

It  is  proposed  to  employ  for  this  work  a  type  of  vessel 


THE  DELEHANTY  SELF-PROrELLING  AUTOMATIC  DUMPING-BOAT 
"  CINDERELLA." 


of  peculiar  construction,  known  as  the  Delehanty  boat. 
The  first  of  these  (the  Cinderella)  is  now  in  successful 
use  for  the  transportation  of  svveepings  and  ashes  to  sea. 


7:2 


STREET-CLEANING 


The  department  is  building  two  other  boats  of  the  same 
character— the  Aschenbroedel  and  the  Cendrillon.  Two 
others,  the  Cenerentola  and  the  Asschepoester,  are  to  follow. 
This  fleet  of  five  boats  will  be  adequate  for  the  entire 
transportation  of  all  of  the  ashes  and  sweepings  from  all 
parts  of  the  city.  It  would  not  be  profitable  to  use  them 
under  the  present  arrangement  of  direct  dumping  from 
carts.  Their  economical  use  will  require  the  construc- 
tion of  elevated  "  pocket-dumps."  One  such  dump  is  now 
completed,  and  is  in  successful  operation  at  the  foot 
of  East  Seventeenth  Street.  When  all  of  the  dumping- 
places  are  provided  with  the  new  structures,  theDelehanty 
boats  will  be  loaded  without  loss  of  time,  and  can  make 
from  two  to  four  trips  per  day  to  Riker's  Island. 

The  pocket-dump  is  a  steel  structure  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  long  and  fifty  feet  high.  A  continuous  link-belt 
conveyer  passes  under  the  pockets,  into  which  the  carts 
are  discharged,  continues  up  past  one  end  of  the  build- 
ing, returning  horizontally  under  its  roof,  and  down  at 
the  other  end. 

It  discharges  its  material  into  any  one  of  the  ten 
elevated  pockets  provided,  as  may  be  desired.  These 
pockets  have  sloping  floors  and  are  closed  with  gates. 
The  gates  being  opened  one  after  the  other,  the  contents 
of  the  pockets  fall  into  the  vessel. 

The  Delehanty  boat  is  a  catamaran,  or  double-hull 
vessel,  with  a  space  twelve  feet  wide  between  the  two 
hulls.  This  space'  is  occupied  by  pockets  rising  to  a 
considerable  height  above  the  deck.  The  floors  of  the 
pockets  are  formed  of  two  doors  hinged  at  the  sides  arid 
opening  downward.  They  are  controlled  by  heavy  chains 
worked  by  steam-power.  When  they  are  released  they 
fall  away  and  the  load  is  delivered,  in  the  case  of  Hiker's 


DISPOSAL  OF  SWEEP IXGS  AND  ASHES  73 


Island  inside  of  the  dumping-pit  above  described.  These 
boats  have  two  propellers  with  independent  engines,  are 
entirely  seaworthy,  and  are  easily  controlled,  so  that  little 
time  need  be  lost  in  placing  them  under  the  dumps.  The 
contract  price  of  the  Delehanty  boat  is  $40,000.  The 
capacity  is  about  five  hundred  cubic  yards  each. 

The  pocket-dumps  cost  something  less  than  $20,000 
each.  There  will  be  at  least  fifteen  such  dumps  provided 
for  the  handling  of  garbage,  sweepings,  and  ashes  only. 

The  cost  of  delivering  material  at  Riker's  Island 
and  depositing  it  in  place  will  be  about  one  third  of  the 
present  cost  of  sending  it  to  sea.  It  is  estimated  that 
the  land  thus  reclaimed  will  cost  $1400  per  acre,  and  it 
will  be  worth  at  least  twice  that  amount  for  the  city's  use. 

It  is  estimated  that  the  fleet  of  five  Delehanty  boats 
(with  the  shorter  trip  to  Riker's  Island)  will  supplant 
thirteen  Barney  dumpers,  thirty-five  deck-scows,  and  the 
equivalent  of  five  tug-boats,  in  constant  use.  The  cost 
of  these  going  to  the  light-ship  was,  in  1896,  $308,600; 
the  cost  of  transporting  the  same  wastes  by  the  new  fleet 
will  be  about  $96,000;  that  is,  while  delivery  at  Riker's 
Island  will  cost  only  5 to  cents,  the  cost  of  delivery  at  sea 
is  14  cents,  per  cubic  yard. 


CHAPTER  IX 


FINAL  DISPOSITION  OF  PAPER  AND  RUBBISH 

WE  now  come  to  one  of  the  most  interesting 
features  of  the  operations  of  the  depart- 
ment—an outgrowth  of  the  necessity  for 
using  hand-labor  to  "  trim  the  scows."  When  carts  are 
dumped  upon  these  vessels  it  is  necessary,  in  order  to 
keep  them  on  an  even  keel,  to  employ  shovelers  to  level 
off  the  load  and  distribute  it  evenly  from  side  to  side. 
This  is  "  scow-trimming." 

Some  sixteen  years  ago  it  cost  the  city  about  $11,000 
per  year  for  labor.  The  work  was  done  by  Italians,  a  race 
with  a  genius  for  rag-  and  bone-picking  and  for  sub- 
sisting on  rejected  trifles  of  food.  These  Italians  were 
observed  by  others  to  have  a  job  which  offered  great 
advantages.  Competition  arose  and  continued  until,  in 
1894,  when  the  amount  of  material  delivered  at  the 
dumps  had  greatly  increased,  the  city  received  for  the 
scow-trimming  privilege  about  $50,000  worth  of  labor 
free  and  more  than  $90,000  in  cash. 

The  most  important  item  of  the  scow-trimming  re- 
covery then  consisted  of  bones  and  grease.    The  paper 

74 


PAPER  AXD  RUBBISH 


75 


dumped  with  the  refuse  of  the  streets  and  ashes  became 
so  soiled  and  wet  as  to  have  but  little  value,  and  the 


LOADING  A  SCOW  WITH  REFUSE. 

value  of  even  the  rags  was  much  reduced  by  their  dirty 
condition.  For  nearly  a  year  past  we  have  been  collect- 
ing paper  and  rubbish  separately,  so  that  rags  and  paper 


76 


STREET-CLEANING 


are  much  cleaner;  and  although  fully  $50,000  worth  of 
bones  and  fat  are  now  withdrawn  in  the  garbage  which 
is  sent  to  the  Utilization  Works,  the  city  is  still  receiving 
at  the  rate  of  about  $50,000  for  what  is  left.  As  paper 
and  rubbish  are  still  dumped  upon  the  ash-scows,  much 


SORTING  THE  RAGS  AND  OTHER  ARTICLES  OP  VALUE  UNDER  THE  OLD- 
FASHIONED  DUMPING-BOARD. 

valuable  material  is  lost,  and  much  of  what  is  recovered 
is  more  or  l^ss  soiled. 

The  system  has  already  been  well  inaugurated  of 
transporting  the  paper  and  rubbish  to  picking-yards, 
where  it  arrives  in  clean  condition,  and  where  all  of 
value  that  it  contains  can  easily  be  sorted  out,  the  mere, 
refuse  being  either  burned  or,  if  not  combustible,  dumped 
on  the  scows. 


PAPER  AXD  RUBBISH 


77 


The  yard  that  has  been  longest  in  use  is  that  at  Xo. 
012  East  Eighteenth  Street.  It  contains  large  sheds  for 
the  storing  of  material,  pens  for  bottles  and  for  tin  cans, 
a  " treasury"  for  the  safe-keeping  of  metals  and  other 
trifles  of  value  which  would  tempt  pilferers,  and  the 


TRAVELING  BELT  AND  THE  TICKING-GANG. 


machinery  that  is  used  in  connection  with  the  work. 
This  consists  mainly  of  a  traveling  belt  about  eighty  feet 
long,  which  rises  out  of  a  shallow  pit  into  which  the  con- 
tents of  the  carts  are  thrown,  and  runs  horizontally  for 
fifty  feet  between  two  rows  of  workmen,  each  engaged  in 
selecting  the  kind  of  paper,  rag,  or  other  material  to 


78 


STREET-CLEANING 


which  he  is  assigned.  The  belt  rises  on  a  steep  angle  to 
the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  where  straw,  excelsior,  bits  of 
wood,  and  worthless  paper  are  burned.  In  connection 
with  this  furnace  there  is  a  large  steam-boiler,  which 


THE  BELT  RISING  TO  THE  FEED-DOOR  OF  THE  FURNACE. 


furnishes  the  power  for  moving  the  belt,  and  from  which, 
thus  far,  a  great  amount  of  steam  under  high  pressure 
is  going  to  waste.  When  means  are  found  for  utilizing 
this  waste  steam  still  further  economy  will  result.  This 
yard  receives  daily  about  fifty  large  loads  of  all  manner 
of  refuse  which  householders,  storekeepers,  manufac- 


PAPER  AND  RUBBISH 


79 


turers,  and  others  wish  to  get  rid  of.  The  average  sales 
per  week  during  the  months  of  July  and  August  were  as 
follows: 


Other  materials       .       .       .             .  43.47 
Total  $261.24 

This  is  for  the  collections  of  ten  carts  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  use.  It  is  only  a  general  indication. 
The  outlook  is  that  the  returns  will  increase. 

The  second  yard  is  being  provided  with  a  belt  and 
small  engine  only,  all  wastes  being  sent  to  the  scows,  and 
no  account  being  taken  of  steam.  Still  another  yard  is 
being  arranged,  where  a  vastly  greater  burning  capacity 
will  be  furnished,  and  where  it  is  thought  that  two  hun- 
dred loads  per  day  can  be  handled. 

The  experiments  with  these  three  yards  will  enable  us 
to  determine  which  is  the  more  advantageous  method  to 
be  adopted,  and  especially  to  decide  the  very  important 
question  as  to  whether  this  work  shall  be  done  in  a  large 
number  of  yards  within  the  city,  or  whether  all  of  the 
paper  and  rubbish  shall  be  transported  to  Rikers  Island, 
there  to  be  picked  over  and  sorted  in  one  large  establish- 
ment, for  which  ample  space  can  be  furnished.  The  sav- 
ing in  rent  would  be  very  great,  and  the  present  indica- 
tions are  that  this  and  the  simpler  and  more  economi- 
cal administration  will  outweigh  the  cost  of  transpor- 
tation. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  what  will  be  the  amount  to  be 
received  by  the  city  as  a  profit  on  these  operations;  but 
there  are  already  indications  that  the  easy  facility 


Paper 
Rags 


$128.40 
89.37 


80 


STREET-CLEANING 


afforded  to  householders  to  get  rid  of  all  manner  of 
wastes  is  leading  them  to  discard  more  and  more  of 
things  that  they  have  hitherto  thought  worth  saving. 
That  the  profit  will  greatly  exceed  any  amount  hitherto 
received  for  scow-trimming  is  already  demonstrated. 


CHAPTER  X 


STOCK  AND  PLANT 
BY  MAJOR  H.  C.  CUSHING,  ASSISTANT  SUPERINTENDENT 

WHEN  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  came 
under  its  present  administration  the  plant 
wc-s  inadequate  and  in  bad  condition.  This 
was  particularly  the  case  in  the  matter  of  carts,  harness, 
and  horses.  Of  the  first  two  items  many  were  out  of 
repair  and  showed  a  lack  of  systematic  care.  A  great 
many  of  the  horses  were  low  in  flesh  and  of  a  class  un- 
fitted for  their  peculiar  work,  being  large  and  long-legged. 
Such  animals,  when  once  they  get  reduced,  are  very  diffi- 
cult to  recuperate.  A  new  standard  was  determined  on, 
and  the  horses  purchased  thereafter  were  typical  cart- 
horses, and  of  such  uniform  excellence  that  the  expert 
judges  who  have  passed  on  the  merits  of  the  various 
stables  at  the  annual  parades  have  stated  that  it  would 
seem  hardly  possible  to  assemble  together  such  an  even 
lot. 

The  stables  were  deficient  in  the  necessary  supplies, 
and  were  run  in  a  very  loose  way  as  to  discipline.  They 
were  the  resort  of  the  local  politicians,  and  the  foremen 

81 


82 


STREET-CLEANING 


were  at  the  mercy  of  these.  If  an  inefficient  employee 
was  laid  off  or  discharged,  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  go  to 
his  ward  leader  to  get  himself  reinstated.  This  was  a 
serious  drawback  to  discipline,  for  the  stable  foremen 
could  not  do  what  was  proper  without  prejudicing  their 
own  positions.  The  very  first  thing,  then,  that  was  done 
was  to  change  the  existing  conditions  entirely.  Every 
one  in  the  service,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  was 
given  to  understand  that  his  position  implied  work  ac- 
cording to  his  responsibility;  that  so  long  as  he  did  that 
work  his  personal  opinions  and  politics  would  not  be  con- 
sidered ;  and  that  the  stables  must  no  longer  be  a  lounging- 
place  for  outsiders.  A  system  of  day-and-night  inspection 
was  inaugurated,  and  at  inopportune  periods  the  higher 
officials  would  drop  down  on  a  stable,  often  discovering 
some  one  absent  or  neglecting  his  duty. 

After  preliminary  warning,  men  who  wrere  proved  to 
be  persistent  offenders  were  discharged  and  their  places 
filled  by  better  men.  The  stable  employees  soon  found 
that  a"  they  had  to  do  was  to  attend  to  business.  New 
material  was  obtained  as  fast  as  possible,  that  on  hand 
was  repaired,  a  sufficient  force  was  placed  in  each  stable 
to  keep  it  in  order,  and  a  spirit  of  rivalry  was  encouraged. 
The  result  is  that  to-day,  on  the  testimony  of  some  of  the 
largest  and  most  experienced  liverymen,  there  are  no 
public  stables  run  in  a  more  systematic  manner  than 
those  of  the  department,  nor  kept  in  as  fine  condition. 
One  of  these  gentlemen  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  lie 
doubted  if  there  were  ten  private  stables  in  New  York 
which,  in  all  the  essentials  of  stable  management,  could 
excel  them. 

This  result  has  been  secured  by  the  rigid  application  of 
systematic  rules  and,  furthermore,  by  the  encouragement 


STOCK  AND  PLANT 


83 


of  special  prizes  of  banners,  etc.,  given  to  those  stables 
which,  both  in  the  care  of  the  equipment  and  the  condition 
of  the  animals,  exhibited  the  most  merit.  After  the  first 
annual  parade,  which  demonstrated  so  markedly  the  con- 
dition of  the  department,  it  was  resolved  to  send  a  cart 
from  each  stable  for  exhibition  at  the  National  Horse- 
show.  This  innovation  at  such  a  fashionable  function 
was  a  decided  success  and  added  much  to  the  increasing 
popularity  of  the  department,  besides  greatly  raising  the 
esprit  de  corps  of  the  drivers. 

This,  in  general  terms,  shows  how  the  condition  and 
morale  of  the  stable  department  have  been  raised.  There 
are  nine  stables  in  all,  situated  in  convenient  parts  of  the 
city,  near  the  water-front,  and  from  Hamilton  Street  on 
the  south  to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-second  Street  on  the 
north.  One  of  these,  Stable  A,  in  addition  to  being  a 
stable  is  the  great  depot  and  repair-shop.  To  it  all  new 
stock  is  brought,  horse-dealers  bring  their  horses  for  ex- 
amination and  purchase,  and  broken  carts,  etc.,  are  sent 
for  repair.  It  is  a  very  busy  place.  The  other  eight 
are  purely  stables,  and  only  the  ordinary  harness-repair- 
ing and  simple  work  on  vehicles  are  done  at  them. 

All  horses  are  shod  by  contract,  at  a  fixed  price  per 
month.  There  are  three  veterinary  surgeons  on  duty 
daily.  The  assistant  superintendent  has  general  charge 
of  all  stables  and  of  the  carting  force.  He  is  responsi- 
ble for  the  condition  of  the  men  and  of  the  stock;  he  is 
also  charged  with  the  carrying  out  of  all  disciplinary  rules 
affecting  drivers.  His  immediate  assistant  is  the  super- 
intendent of  stables,  whose  duties  are  such  as  are  implied 
by  his  title.  A  regular  system  of  reports  and  returns, 
affecting  both  the  personnel  and  the  material,  has  been 
inaugurated,  similar  in  all  its  essential  details  to  that  of 


84 


STREET-CLEANING 


the  army.  Each  stable  has  a  foreman,  an  assistant  fore- 
man, clerks,  and  hostlers.  In  addition  thereto  there  are 
various  stablemen  to  cleanse  harness  and  carts  and  to 
do  the  usual  work.  The  number  of  these  depends  on  the 
capacity  of  the  stable,  i.  e.,  so  many  horses  to  the  man. 
This  force  takes  entire  care  of  the  horses. 

The  ash-cart-driver  is  not  required  to  do  anything 
more  than  to  hitch  up  his  team  and  unhitch  it  when  he 
returns.  The  morning  hitching  up  is  very  rapidly  and 
systematically  done.  The  carts  are  grouped  in  the  stable 
according  to  the  sections  they  work  in.  When  the  bell 
sounds  for  roll-call,  drivers  fall  in  by  sections,  immedi- 
ately proceed  to  the  stall  floors,  harness  and  lead  their 
horses  to  the  cart  floor,  hitch  up,  and  start  off  for  daily 
work.  Frequently  the  whole  force  of  a  large  stabk  has 
been  timed  as  getting  out  to  work  in  ten  minutes  or 
thereabouts.  After  the  drivers  leave  the  stable,  and  until 
they  return  thereto  at  night,  they  are  controlled  by  the 
district  superintendents.  Their  work  is  of  a  variable  na- 
ture. On  the  outset  they  remove  a  portion  of  the  ashes, 
for  their  second  load  they  take  away  the  garbage,  and  on 
the  last  round  the  street-sweepings.  It  depends  a  good 
deal  on  circumstances  as  to  how  long  they  are  employed 
during  the  day,  but  no  driver  may  return  to  the  stable 
until  he  has  cleaned  up  his  route.  Nor  must  he  mix  one 
of  the  above  classes  of  material  with  another.  At  noon 
he  has  a  hy-off  or  owing  of  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
hours.  During  the  day  the  various  officers  are  moving 
about  the  streets,  and  when  a  driver  is  found  derelict  in 
his  duty  he  is  reported  to  the  main  office  for  proper  pun- 
ishment. A  specific  code  of  rules  governs  him,  and  he 
knows  exactly  what  to  expect  for  violation  thereof.  The 
lot  of  a  driver  is  hard  as  compared  with  that  of  a  sweeper. 


STOCK  AND  PLANT 


85 


The  latter  simply  sweeps  the  street,  collects  the  rubbish 
in  bags  or  piles,  and  his  work  is  done.  The  driver  has  to 
collect  all  this  refuse;  has  to  have  animated  conflicts  with 
janitors,  servants,  saloon-keepers,  etc.,  as  to  whether  their 
garbage  is  garbage  or  their  refuse  material ' 1  proper  " ;  and, 
finally,  has  to  satisfy  exacting  foremen  bynotloitering,  and 
critical  dump-inspectors  as  to  the  character  of  his  loads. 
Then,  he  must  not  enter  a  saloon,  nor  trot  his  horse,  nor 
do  many  things.  For  all  that,  the  position  of  driver  is 
quite  popular.  It  is  wider  and  more  varied  in  its  ex- 
periences than  that  of  the  staid  and  respectable  sweeper, 
who  is  confined  to  one  restricted  locality.  A  driver  of  a 
convivial  or  amatory  turn  has  hazardous  opportunities  to 
get  a  surreptitious  drink,  and  can  occasionally  indulge  in 
a  brief  flirtation. 

There  are  two  classes  of  drivers— regulars  and  extras. 
The  latter  are  eligible  for  work  only  when  a  regular  is 
absent  or  sick.  There  are  generally  about  twTenty  or 
thirty  extra  drivers  on  the  list  at  each  stable  available 
to  be  called  on.  Drivers  are  uniformed  in  brown  canvas 
suits,  with  brown  helmets.  It  would  be  impossible  for 
them  to  use  the  white  uniform  of  the  sweeper.  The 
same  general  system  as  regards  the  organization  and 
discipline  above  noted  of  the  stable  force  obtains  with 
the  sweeper  force  and  the  mechanic  force. 

To  carry  on  the  operations  of  a  department  which  has 
arisen  to  such  importance  and  wThich  deals  with  so  many 
problems  requires  a  variety  of  employees,  each  of  special 
aptitude,  from  the  sweeper  who  manipulates  his  broom 
and  the  driver  who  handles  his  ash-can  in  a  workmanlike 
manner,  up  to  the  scientific  expert  who  deals  with  ab- 
struse sanitary  problems.  All  have  their  specified  work, 
and  all  are  held  to  a  rigid  accountability  in  the  perform- 


86 


STREET-CLEANING 


ance  of  it;  and  the  commissioner  holds  himself  to  as 
rigid  an  accountability  as  any. 

Furthermore,  the  carrying  on  of  this  business  neces- 
sitates a  large  plant— stables,  repair-shops,  section 
stations,  as  well  as  incumbrance-yards  where  derelict 
trucks  are  impounded,  yards  where  the  refuse  is  sorted 
for  sale,  dumps,  scows,  etc.  Incidental  to  all  this  there 
must  be  special  men  employed  as  inspectors  to  keep  a 
watchful  eye  on  everything,  and  whose  timely  reports 
may  be  considered  as  the  lubricant  which  makes  all  the 
various  wheels  turn  around  in  unison. 

The  department  is  divided  into  five  great  divisions:  (1) 
the  sweepers,  under  the  control  of  the  general  superin- 
tendent; (2)  the  stables  and  drivers,  under  the  assistant 
superintendent;  (3)  final  disposition,  under  the  superin- 
tendent of  final  disposition;  (4)  the  mechanics,  under  the 
master  mechanic;  and  (5)  the  clerical  force,  under  the 
chief  clerk.  The  sweepers  are  directly  under  the  control 
of  district  superintendents  and  section  foremen.  The 
drivers  are  under  the  same  control  while  out  on  their 
work.  The  city  is  divided  into  eleven  districts  and  sixty- 
five  sections.  Each  two  sections  have  their  section  sta- 
tion, where  the  sweepers  assemble  in  the  morning  to  be 
sent  to  work,  and  where  the  brooms,  watering-cans,  etc., 
are  kept.  There  the  men  leave  their  ordinary  clothes 
and  assume  their  white  uniforms.  These  section  stations 
are  kept  in  fine  order,  and  are  a  vast  improvement  over 
the  old  assembling-places  at  the  street-corner. 

The  superintendent  of  final  disposition  controls  the 
movements  of  the  various  dump-boats  and  the  final  dis- 
position of  all  the  refuse.  This  in  winter  is  sometimes 
a  very  serious  problem. 

Lastly,  there  is  the  snow-inspector,  a  district  superin- 
tendent detailed  for  the  winter  who  directs  the  removal. 


STOCK  AND  PLANT 


87 


of  snow  and  ice  and  supervises  the  contractors  who 
attend  to  it. 

The  clerical  force  at  the  main  office  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  chief  clerk.  Its  employees  come  from 
the  civil  service,  and  are  engaged  in  various  classes  of 
clerical  work  and  the  preparation  of  statistics.  This 
bureau,  while  not  impressing  itself  so  markedly  on  the 
general  public  as  those  above  cited,  is  a  very  important 
one,  as  may  well  be  imagined. 

Having  thus  given  a  general  idea  of  the  various  de- 
partments and  duties,  it  is  only  necessary  to  recapitulate 
in  the  tabular  form  all  the  information  as  to  personnel 
and  material  in  the  main  items  to  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  what  an  important  department  this  is;  and  it 
here  follows: 


TABULATED  STATEMENT  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT 
OF  STREET-CLEANING,  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  JUNE  13,  1897 


Grade 

Pay 
L-ay 
Month 
Year 

Commissioner  . 

$6000  Y 

Deputy  commissioner 

4000  Y. 

Chief  clerk 

3G00  Y. 

Gen.  superintendent  . 

3000  Y. 

Asst.  superintendent 

2500  Y 

Supt.  of  stables . 

2000  Y. 

Supt  of  final  dispo-  ? 
sition       ...  > 

2000  Y 

Assistant  supt.  of  ? 
final  disposition  3 

1500  Y. 

Master  mechanic 

1800  Y. 

Private  secretary 

1500  Y. 

Time-collectors 

1200  Y. 

MISCELLANEOUS 


Force 
Officers  Men 


Specific  Dona 


Controls  everything. 
(Assists  commissioner;  makes 
I  purchases. 

Charge  of  clerical  force, 
f  General    executive:  charge 
\    particularly  of  sweepers. 
(  <  Itinera]  executive  ;  charge  of 
\     stables  and  drivers. 

Special  supervision  of  stables. 
^  Charge  of  dumps,  scows,  and 
\  refuse. 

Assistant  to  above. 

( Charge  of   mechanics,  con- 

\    struct  ion.  repairs. 

S  Charge  of  oommisstoiisr'a  cor- 

\     respondence,  etc. 

(  Collect  time-books;  also  spe- 

\    eial  inspectors. 


Total  miscellaneous 


88 


STREET-CLEANING 


CLERICAL  FORCE 


General  bookkeeper  . 

Assistant 
Supt.  pay-rolls  . 

Assistants 
Application       and  ? 

registration  clerk) 

Incumbrance    and  |_ 
contract  clerk  ^ 

Stenographers  and 
type-writers  . 

Complaint  clerk 

Property  clerk  . 


Pay 
Day 
Month 
Year 

$1750  Y. 

900  Y. 
1750  Y. 
900  Y. 

1800  Y. 


2000  Y. 
360 

to  Y.  ' 
1500  ! 
1000  Y. 

1800  Y. 


f     1500  ) 
General  clerks   .     <      to  Y.  > 
I     900  ) 


Specific  Duties 


^  Bookkeeping. 
|  Pay-rolls. 

J  Registration  of  applications 
I    for  position. 

C  Charge  of  seizures  made  for 

<  incumbrance,  and  of  con- 
(    tracts  and  legal  business. 

Duties  indicated. 

Attends  to  complaints. 

<  Charge  of  property  stored  at 
(    main  depot. 

Clerical  work. 


Total  clerical  force 


6 


10 


District  superinten- 
dents 
Section  foremen 

Assistant  section 
foremen  . 

Regular  sweepers 


1800  Y. 
1200  Y. 

900  Y. 

600  Y. } 
660  Y. 
720  Y.  ! 


SWEEPER  FORCE 

11 

58 

167 


Total  sweeper  force  . 
Extra  sweepers  .       .    2.00  D. 


69 


Charge  of  districts. 

Charge  of  sections. 
Assist  in  charge  of  sections, 
detailed  men,  and  various 
duties. 


1614      Sweeping  streets. 


1781 
210 


Employed  temporarily  to  re- 
place absent  sweepers. 


Stable  foremen  . 
Assistant  stable 

foremen  . 
Hostlers  . 


1300  Y. 

1000  Y. 

720  Y. 
600  Y. 


DRIVER  FORCE 

9 
11 


92 

S 600  V.  i  c  Driving  earts,  collecting  ref- 

660  Y.  \             893  <    use,  and  detailed  work  in 

720  V.  )  (     stables  and  elsewhere. 


Charge  of  stables. 

Assist  in  charge  of  stables. 

Grooming  horses,  etc. 
j  Driving  earts,  collecting  ret' 


Total  driver  force 

Extra  drivers 


2.00  I). 


985 
249 


Employed  temporarily  to  re- 
place absent  drivers. 


STOCK  AND  PLANT 


FINAL  DISPOSITION 

Pat 

G™>*  Ntogfa     Offi^T^Men  Specific  Ditties 

Year 

Dump-inspectors      .  $1200  Y.       17  Charge  of  dumps. 

Afpt4tors  dunil>"in"  }      900  Y.       10  Assist  in  charge  of  (lumps. 

Tspcctors  S,'°W"in'  \     1200  Y.       10  Charge  of  tugs  and  scows. 

Masters      .       .       .     110  If.       1  Onboard  of  Cinderella. 

Mates  ....      COM.       1  44 
Engineers   .      .       .     100  11  1 

Assistant  GO  M.  1  "        "  44 

Firemen  ...  40  M.  2 
Deck-hands  40  M.  1 

Cooks  ....      30  M.  1  44 

Total  final  disposition      .      55  5 

MECHANIC  FORCE 

Mechanics  .       .     |     J £j*  J-  76      General  mechanical  work. 

Mechanics'  helpers  $     ."'rQ  jj"  [  0      (General  mechanical  work. 


Total  mechanic  force  .       .  82 

RECAPITULATION 

Officers  Men 

Miscellaneous   13 

Clerical  force   6  10 

Sweeper  force   GO  17S1 

Driver  force   20  985 

Final  disposition   55  5 

Mechanic  force   82 

Grand  total   163  8808 

Officers  and  men   :>,\ »:;_» 

Extra  sweepers  and  drivers   4<;x  9 $ 

All  told,  regulars  and  extras   :;5oo 

MATERIAL  AND  PLANT 
BWXBFBBS1  i'Ki'.\i;TMKNT.  AUGUST  31 

ARTICLE,  ANIMAL, 

PROPERTY,  ETC.  M  Ml  Ml 

Bicycles  75 

Brooms  5. 1 4 1 

Bags   30,760 


90 


STREET-CLEANING 


SWEEPERS'  DEPARTMENT,  AUGUST  31— CONTINUED 
ABTICLK,  ANIMAL, 

PKOFKKTY,  ETC.  NUMBER 

Bag-carriers   1,355 

Cans,  ash-   681 

Cans,  sprinkling-  •   2,007 

Cans,  paper-,  fruit-   83 

Carts,  lioky-poky                                                            .      .      .  20 

Hose   3,138 

Receptacles   207 

Incumbrance-yards   2 

Section  stations   41 

drivers'  department,  august  31 

Ash-carts   875 

Ash-trucks   6 

Wagons  i*    .-.    ..     .    13 

Light  wagons       .  r   31 

Sweeping-machines   18 

Water-carts   ..33 

Paper-carts   150 

Trucks  .   10 

Snow-plows,  etc.                                                      .      .      .      .  20 

Hose-carts   10 

Harness  sets   1,316 

Horses   945 

Stables   9 

FINAL  disposition,  august  31 

Dumps   14 

Barney  dump-boats,  hired   13 

Delehanty  dump-boat   1 

Scows   22 

Crematory   1 

Stake-boat   1 

Tug-boats,  hired   4 


H.  C.  C. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


BY  H.  L.  STIDHAM,  SNOW-INSPECTOR 


HE  removal  of  snow  has  always  presented  one 


of  the  most  vexatious  problems  confronting  the 


A  various  administrations.  The  removal  of  "  new- 
fallen  snow  from  leading  thoroughfares  and  such  other 
streets  and  avenues  as  may  be  found  practicable"  is  a 
duty  made  obligatory  upon  the  commissioner  by  law,  and 
with  each  year  the  moral  obligation  to  the  vast  traffic 
interests  of  congested  Manhattan  Island  becomes  more 
insistent.  Of  late,  also,  the  question  of  the  health  of  the 
community  has  entered  with  great  force  into  any  consid- 
eration of  the  subject.  With  the  crowding  of  the  im- 
mense tenement  population  into  that  human  beehive,  the 
East  Side,  there  has  been  an  actual  bulging  out  from  the 
houses  to  the  now  clean  asphalt  streets.  Whether  it  be 
winter  or  summer,  the  people  must  have  this  additional 
room  opened  up  for  them,  and  a  delay  in  the  removal  of 
the  almost  knee-deep  snow  and  befouled  slush  is  at  the 
cost  of  much  sickness,  and  probably  many  lives,  each 
winter. 


91 


92 


STREET-CLEANING 


With  such  an  uncertain  quantity  to  estimate  upon  as 
the  yearly  snowfall,  the  annual  appropriations  for  this 
important  part  of  the  department's  work  have  been 
nominal  sums  of  $25,000  or  $40,000.  Between  the  years 
1882  and  1892  the  annual  expenditure  was  never  more 
than  $45,000,  and  averaged  nearly  within  the  $25,000 
allowed.  In  the  past  three  years,  with  the  enormous 
increase  in  the  amounts  of  snow  removed,  there  has 
necessarily  been  a  much  larger  annual  expenditure. 
Any  sums  needed  beyond  the  yearly  appropriation  are 
transferred  from  other  department  accounts  by  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  and  are  after- 
ward replaced  by  the  sale  of  revenue  bonds. 

In  the  small  amounts  of  snow  removed  each  winter  up 
to  January,  1895,  the  work  was  performed  mainly  with 
the  regular  department  force,  hiring  additional  laborers 
and  carts  when  the  fall  was  a  heavy  one. 

The  quantity  of  street  area  opened  to  traffic  by  this 
method  was  necessarily  insignificant,  and  was  centered 
in  a  small  portion  of  the  down-town  districts.  Here 
nearly  al^  the  sweepers  from  the  various  sections  through- 
out the  entire  city  were  concentrated  into  piling  and  load- 
ing gangs,  and  the  department  carts  in  use  in  the  hauling 
of  ashes  and  garbage  during  the  day  were  sent,  with  fresh 
horses  and  drivers,  to  the  snow  district  for  the  night  duty, 
which  constituted  nearly  all  the  work. 

In  the  early  months  of  1895  the  removal  by  day's  work 
was  continued,  but,  for  the  first  time,  each  of  the  eleven 
districts  did  its  own  work,  and  its  head  was  made  respon- 
sible for  the  hiring  of  most  of  the  additional  carts  and 
laborers  required.  In  this  the  first  year  of  the  present 
administration  the  work  was  extended  materially,  and  the 
mileage  of  streets  cleared  increased  in  all  parts  of  the 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


93 


city,  with  the  securing  of  many  more  hired  carts  than 
were  ever  used  before. 

In  the  autumn  of  1895-96  the  first  proposal  for  the  re- 
moval of  snow  and  ice  by  contract  was  advertised  for,  and 
the  contract  was  let  to  the  only  bidder,  Herbert  Tate,  at 
56  cents  per  cubic  yard.  No  snow  was  removed  under 
this  agreement  until  after  the  first  of  the  year  1896. 

With  the  beginning  of  1896  a  new  era  began.  Quan- 
tities hitherto  undreamed  of  were  removed  in  every 
storm,  and  the  mileage  of  cleared  streets  increased  enor- 
mously. The  work  was  done  by  the  contractor  in  the 
manner  and  at  the  places  ordered,  and  a  temporary 
bureau  was  organized  and  placed  in  entire  charge  of  the 
burdensome  details  that  had  so  long  hampered  the  regu- 
lar department  work.  Because  of  the  letting  of  the 
contract  in  cubic  yards,  it  was  necessary  to  arrange  for 
inspectors  at  the  loading-  and  dumping-places,  to  tally 
the  loads  and  to  protect  the  city's  interests.  All  cartmen 
had  to  get  their  loads  from  the  regular  loading-places 
and  dump  them  into  the  river  before  receiving  the  token 
of  the  city's  indebtedness.  Under  the  contract  system, 
the  department  was  relieved  entirely  of  the  care  and 
labor  incident  to  the  hiring  of  carts  and  men,  keeping 
their  time  and  making  up  pay-rolls;  and  the  vexatious 
delays  in  payment  of  the  emergency  forces  formerly 
attending  the  removal  of  snow  were  obviated  altogether. 
The  contractor,  by  paying  both  cartmen  and  shovelers 
promptly  after  each  storm,  made  possible  the  removal  of 
the  present  extraordinary  and  constantly  increasing  daily 
totals.  The  department  laborers  were  retained  in  their 
own  sections  upon  the  necessary  cross-walk  and  gutter 
work,  and  the  interruptions  to  the  regular  department 
routine  were  reduced  to  a  minimum.    Snow  removal  be- 


94 


STREET-CLEANING 


came  a  mere  matter  of  dollars  and  cents.  Much  better 
results  were  secured  (by  the  contractor  paying  by  the 
load)  from  the  limited  supply  of  vehicles  at  the  disposal 
of  the  city.  The  drivers,  instead  of  hauling  eight  or  ten 
loads  for  a  day's  work  and  then  leaving,  as  formerly, 
worked  continuously  and  as  rapidly  as  their  horses  could 
be  made  to  move,  in  the  endeavor  to  get  in  as  many  loads, 
and  therefore  secure  as  much  money,  as  possible. 

In  the  autumn  of  1896  there  were  three  bidders  for 
the  contract  for  the  season  of  1896-97,  and  it  was  let  to 
G.  M.  Furman  for  42  cents  per  cubic  yard.  It  will  be 
seen  from  the  table  below  that  the  amount  of  snow  re- 
moved under  this  contract  is  considerably  more  than 
the  totals  for  both  of  the  twTo  previous  winters. 

The  table  showTs  for  every  winter  the  official  snowfall 
in  inches,  the  number  of  loads  removed  by  the  depart- 
ment forces  and  by  the  respective  contractors,  the  totals 
for  each  winter,  with  the  total  cost  and  the  cost  per  load. 
(A  load  of  snow  is  taken  as  one  and  one  half  cubic  yards.) 
The  second  column  comprises  the  day's  work  of  the  de- 
partment in  every  winter,  and  in  addition  the  removal  by 
Contractor  Tate  for  1895-96  and  by  Contractor  Furman 
for  1896-97.  The  third  column  shows  the  amounts  re- 
moved by  the  contractors  who,  from  1882  to  1888  inclu- 
sive, had  entire  charge  of  the  street-cleaning  work  below 
Fourteenth  Street,  and  were  compelled  by  their  contract 
to  cart  away  snow  without  extra  cost  to  the  city.  In  the 
fourth  column  likewise  is  given,  wherever  the  separation 
could  be  made,  the  number  of  loads  removed  each  winter 
after  that  of  1885-86  by  Holland  &  Co.,  who  cart  away 
all  the  snow  on  Broadway  from  Bowling  Green  to  Park 
Place  for  the  Metropolitan  Street-Railway  Company,  with- 
out expense  to  the  city. 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


95 


Neither  of  these  columns,  then,  the  third  and  fourth, 
although  included  in  the  totals  by  winters,  enters  into  the 
costs  of  removal,  which  are  made  up  solely  from  the  bills 
presented  for  the  work  done  by  department  forces  and 
Contractors  Tate  and  Furman,  as  shown  in  the  second 
column.  These  costs,  also,  are  all  exclusive  of  super- 
vision by  the  department  inspectors,  foremen,  and  super- 
intendents. 


Winters. 

Snowfall  in  inches. 

IPS 

~  8  M  3 

c  0  e  ti 

Loads  by  the  contrac- 
tors    below  Four- 
teenth Street. 

Loade  by  Holland  & 
Co.,  lower  Broadway. 

Totals. 

Total  cost  per  winter. 

3 

u 

o 
O 

1881-82 

*23,174 

*23,174 

*$22,551.24 

x$.973 

1882-83 

18,475 

17,927 

36,402 

15,360.04 

.831 

1883-84 

40,709 

30,124 

70,833 

27,352.05 

.672 

1884-85 

36.6 

22,313 

18,195 

40,508 

20,213.22 

.906 

1885-86 

23.9 

21,578 

26,807 

48,385 

15,035.24 

.697 

1886-87 

49.5 

30,973 

32,203 

1,332 

64,508 

24,420.53 

.789 

1887-88 

47.4 

51,894 

18,320 

5,886 

76,100 

47.474.40 

.915 

1888-89 

21.V 

4,010 

<D 

CO 

1,086 

5,096 

5,985.22 

1.493 

1889-90 

34.1 

36,359 

£  od 

»3  OC 

402 

36,761 

29,555.82 

.813 

1890-91 

39.5 

64,132 

1 

^  oo 

64,132 

56,405.53 

.880 

1891-92 

36.5 

27,052 

r°  00 

27,052 

23,094.28 

.8:54 

1892-93 

77.6 

86,213 

86,213 

62,458.78 

.724 

1893-94 

56.1 

105.669 

105,669 

60.691.51 

.574 

1894-95,  up  to  / 
January  15   .  \ 

11.4 

64,074 

*  | 

1,260 

65,334 

42,498.93 

.663 

1894-95,  after  1 
January  15   .  j 

24.8 

261,884 

1,825 

263,709 

183,225.64 

.700 

1895-9(5 

42.0 

271.265 

tc  O 
0  ® 

1.980 

273,245 

254.710.05 

.939 

1896-97 

39.1 

700.263 

A 

2,726 

702,989 

445,038.59 

.636 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  above  table  the  winter  of 
1894-95  is  divided  into  two  portions— the  one  before 
January  15,  1895,  and  the  other  after  that  date.  In  the 
summary  of  the  table  these  portions,  for  the  sake  of 

*  These  fhnires  are  the  only  ones  found  in  the  "  City  Record. "  hut  the  total 
In  loads  is  5i:57  less  than  the  number  given  In  Commissioner  Coleman's  11  Re- 
view of  the  Operations  of  the  Department."  published  in  L880. 


96 


STREET-CLEANING 


convenience,  are  each  called  a  half  of  a  winter.  The 
summary  is  shown  below,  and  is  a  comparison  of  the 
period  from  1881  to  1895,  under  previous  commissioners, 
with  that  of  the  present  administration  since  its  inaugu- 
ration on  January  15,  1895.  It  gives  the  totals  by  day's 
work  and  by  contract,  and  the  entire  amounts  of  snow 
removed  for  the  periods  mentioned.  The  average  num- 
ber of  loads  for  a  winter  in  each  period,  with  their  com- 
parative percentages,  the  total  cost  of  removal,  and  the 
average  cost  per  cart-load,  are  also  shown. 


SUMMARY 


O  43  O 


111     *  Sf  I| 


From  winter  1881- "j 

1895  ^qu^SFlli  r   596,025  153,542    750,1G7   55,568  11.2    $453,105.79  $.759 

winters  J 
January  15,  1895,  ) 

to  spring,  1897,  V  1,233,412     6,531  1,239,943  495,977  100       882,980.88  .716 

equals  2^  winters  ) 


It  will  be  seen  from  this  summary  that  the  amount  of 
snow  removed  in  the  two  complete  winters,  1895-96  and 
1896-97,  and  in  the  portion  of  1894-95,  is  1,239,943  loads 
(one  and  one  half  cubic  yards  each),  almost  twice  the  en- 
tire amount  removed  in  the  thirteen  full  winters  and  the 
portion  of  another  before  January  15,  1895.  The  aver- 
age per  winter  for  the  present  administration  is  495,977 
loads,  against  55,568  loads  for  the  winters  'preceding. 
The  total  cost  of  removal  under  all  the  former  commis- 
sioners is  $453,105.79,  or  an  average  cost  per  load  re- 
moved of  $.759;  under  the  present  administration  it  has 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


97 


been  $882,980.88,  or  an  average  cost  per  load  of  $.716. 
This  is  over  four  cents  lower  than  the  average  for  all  the 
previous  administrations,  and  would  be  much  smaller 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  first  contract  price,  5G 
cents  per  cubic  yard,  or  84  cents  per  load,  was  high— 
only  one  contractor  risking  an  entirely  untried  and  ven- 
turesome experiment  even  at  that  figure.  Another 
reason  for  the  increased  cost  in  1895-96  is  that  in  that 
winter  the  wages  of  the  large  sweeping  force  engaged 
in  the  cleaning  of  cross-walks,  opening  of  gutters,  etc., 
were  charged  to  the  snow  and  ice  account.  This  has  not 
been  done  in  1896-97. 

Another  and  most  important  point  that  should  be 
borne  in  mind  in  the  consideration  of  any  question  of 
cost  is  the  well-known  fact  that  the  standard  of  the  size 
of  loads  set  in  the  years  1895,  1896,  and  1897  is  far  more 
exacting  than  was  ever  attempted  before. 

As  showing  most  markedly  the  great  increase  in  the 
amount  of  snow  removed,  the  following  paragraph  from 
the  report  of  Commissioner  Coleman  for  1888  is  sub- 
joined : 

"  A  snow-storm  of  unequaled  severity  broke  over  this 
city  on  March  12,  1888.  By  reason  of  its  intensity  and 
violence  it  is  popularly  known  and  referred  to  as  the 
*  blizzard.'  The  amount  of  the  snowfall  was  unpre- 
cedented, being,  according  to  official  figures,  twenty- 
two  inches,  and  threatened  to  affect  the  business  of  the 
city  to  an  alarming  extent.  To  meet  this  emergency 
the  physical  and  financial  resources  of  this  department 
were  fully  tested.  The  appropriation  for  the  removal  of 
snow  and  ice  for  the  whole  year  was  only  $25,000,  and 
the  greater  part  of  that  sum  had  already  been  expended 
for  work  done  in  January  and  February.    But  this  de- 


98 


STREET-CLEANING 


partment  made  no  delay  in  addressing  itself  to  the  great 
task  which  so  unexpectedly  confronted  it,  and  worked  so 
rapidly  that  the  threatened  blockade  of  the  streets  and 
stoppage  of  business  were  soon  averted.  Traffic  in  the 
commercial  districts,  which  had  been  temporarily  sus- 
pended, was  speedily  resumed,  and  before  the  expiration 
of  one  week  almost  all  traces  of  the  memorable  snow- 
storm had  been  practically  effaced  from  the  streets." 

The  total  amount  of  snow  actually  removed  during  the 
work  on  this  huge  storm,  as  given  by  the  same  report,  is 
40,542  loads.  This  includes  the  amount  removed  with 
the  department  forces  by  day's  work,  the  amount  re- 
moved by  the  contractors  below  Fourteenth  Street, 
and  the  amount  carted  away  by  the  contractor  hauling 
for  the  Metropolitan  Street-Railway  Company  on  lower 
Broadway. 

In  every  storm  of  the  past  winter  there  were  well  over 
200,000  loads,  and  on  one  day  alone  55,773  loads  were 
hauled,  exclusive  of  railroad  work  and  the  lower  Broad- 
way contract.  This  is  15,000  more  than  the  total  for 
the  entire  week's  work  on  the  "  blizzard."  An  average 
of  the  ten  largest  days'  work  for  the  winter  of  1896-97 
gives  40,534  loads. 

A  comparison  of  the  mileage  of  streets  cleared  per 


STREETS  CLEANED  OF  SNOW  IN  AVERAGE  STORM,  PRIOR 
TO  1895.     MILEAGE,  22.80. 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


99 


storm  is  also  of  interest.  The  accompanying  map  of  the 
city  shows  the  streets,  in  full  black,  cleared  during  the 
work  upon  an  average  storm  in  the  period  preceding  this 
administration.  The  mileage  is  22.80— a  fair,  if  not  too 
large,  average  for  the  storms  of  varying  depth  and 
under  different  commissioners. 

The  second  map  here  given  shows  the  streets  (marked 
in  full  black,  as  before)  cleared  in  the  storm  from  Febru- 


STREETS  CLEANED  OF  SNOW,  FEBRUARY  12  TO  FEBRUARY  16,  1897. 
MILEAGE,  144.42. 

ary  12  to  February  16,  inclusive,  1897.  Virtually  all  the 
street  area  below  Houston  Street  received  attention. 
About  one  half  of  the  streets  between  Houston  and 
Fifty-ninth  streets  were  cleared  of  snow,  and  above  Fifty- 
ninth  Street  the  main  traffic  thoroughfares  and  some  of 
the  crowded  tenement  streets.  The  mileage  of  this 
storm  is  144.41G,  one  and  one  half  miles  less  than  the 
average  for  the  winter,  the  snow-falls  in  wThich  wrere  all 
unusually  heavy. 

A  very  marked  difference  between  the  two  maps  will 
be  noticed  in  looking  at  the  congested  tenement  district 
east  of  the  Bowery  and  south  of  Houston  Street.  This 
was  never  touched  formerly,  while  now7  it  is  virtually 
entirely  cleared  in  every  storm. 

A  most  important  feature  of  the  snow  work  has  been 


100 


STREET-CLEANING 


the  agreements  made  with  the  street-railways.  Under 
an  opinion  from  the  counsel  to  the  corporation,  the  com- 
missioner of  street-cleaning  has  been  authorized  to  enter 
into  agreements  with  the  various  street-railways  in  the 
city  for  the  amount  of  snow  removal  to  be  performed  by 
them  in  lieu  of  that  required  under  the  provisions  of 
Section  271,  Chapter  VIII.,  Revised  Ordinances.  This 
ordinance  demands,  upon  the  part  of  the  companies, 
that  they  cart  away  all  snow  thrown  off  their  tracks  by 
their  plows  or  sweeping-machines.  A  definite  arrange- 
ment has  been  made  with  all  the  companies,  each  assum- 
ing the  entire  responsibility  for  a  certain  fixed  street 
area,  from  curb  to  curb,  instead  of  only  on  its  tracks, 
while  the  city  clears  the  snow  from  as  much  of  the  re- 
mainder of  the  streets  through  which  the  company's 
tracks  pass  as  is  deemed  practicable  and  necessary. 

Before  the  inauguration  of  the  present  system  of  re- 
moval by  contract  the  procedure  was,  as  already  ex- 
plained, to  hire  extra  carts  and  laborers  by  the  day  to 
assist  thf  regular  department  force.  Permission  had  first 
to  be  obtained  from  the  mayor  to  hire  such  additional  help, 
and  it  had  to  be  renewed  at  the  expiration  of  every  three 
days.  Before  the  winter  of  1894-95  the  hiring  of  these 
emergency  laborers  was  done  indirectly  through  certain 
bosses  or  "  padrones,"  controlling  a  large  number  of  men 
each.  Tlit,  padrone  received  from  the  city  $1.50  per  day 
for  each  laborer  furnished,  and  retained  from  this  sum  a 
small  percentage  as  compensation  for  his  own  services. 
He  paid  his  men  daily  upon  the  completion  of  their  work, 
although  the  city's  payment  in  wages  was  never  received 
by  him  until  some  time  after  each  storm.  No  matter 
how  sudden  the  call  for  laborers,  they  were  furnished  at 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


101 


once  and  in  any  number  desired.  Moreover,  they  were 
all  picked  men,  young  and  robust,  and  accustomed  to 
the  heaviest  manual  labor.  They  were  chosen  without 
reference  to  their  citizenship. 

Strong  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  State 
legislature  of  1894  by  the  labor-unions  of  this  city,  and 
a  law  was  passed  amending  the  Consolidation  Act  so 
that  any  extra  laborers  thereafter  to  be  employed  by  the 
Department  of  Street-Cleaning  in  the  removal  of  snow, 
as  well  as  in  the  regular  department  work,  were  to  be 
American  citizens  and  residents  of  the  city.  They  were 
to  be  paid  not  less  than  $2  for  eight  hours'  work,  and 
were  to  be  chosen  only  from  an  eligible  list  of  men  pass- 
ing a  certain  physical  examination. 

Thus  the  opening  of  the  winter  of  1894-95  saw  the 
padrone  system  done  awTay  with,  an  increase  of  one  third 
in  the  wages  to  be  paid  for  labor,  and  the  initiation  of 
complicated  and  burdensome  machinery  for  the  hiring 
and  paying  of  the  emergency  forces. 

The  first  two  storms  after  the  present  commissioner 
took  office  were  less  than  two  inches  in  depth  and  were 
followed  by  warm  weather.  The  department  forces  and 
their  hired  helpers  worked  rapidly,  but  very  much  more 
snow  melted  off  than  was  removed.  Despite  this  patent 
fact,  a  vast  amount  of  unintelligent  praise  and  unde- 
served encomium  hailed  these  first  efforts  at  snow  re- 
moval. These  thoughtless  paeans  of  the  press  were 
changed  into  equally  hasty  and  unfounded  criticisms  after 
the  storm  of  February  7  and  8— a  fall  of  five  and  a  half 
inches,  which  was  followed  almost  immediately  by  un- 
usually severe  and  prolonged  cold  wreather.  The  snow 
obstinately  remained  on  the  streets,  and  the  department 
worked  continuously  for  fourteen  days  in  its  removal. 


102 


STREET-CLEANING 


During  that  time  128.59  miles  of  streets  in  different 
sections  of  the  city  were  cleared. 

The  department  was  deluged  with  suggestions,  ranging 
from  the  flushing  of  the  streets  (with  the  thermometer 
hovering  about  zero!)  to  the  use  of  melting-machines. 
A  number  of  experiments  were  conducted  with  different 
appliances,  but  only  two— the  one  with  a  naphtha  melt- 
ing-machine and  the  other  with  a  steam-pit— held  out 
any  hopes  of  even  moderate  value.  In  the  latter,  a  trial 
concrete  vault,  eight  by  two  by  five  feet,  with  a  steam- 
pipe  at  the  bottom,  kept  covered  always  with  a  foot  of 
water,  and  with  an  outlet  connection  to  the  nearest 
sewer,  was  constructed  on  Franklin  Street.  Steam  was 
supplied  by  means  of  an  ordinary  boiler  mounted  on  a 
four-wheel  truck  alongside  the  pit.  The  experiments 
were  a  practical  failure— the  snow  shoveled  into  the  pit 
melting  very  slowly,  and  the  pit  soon  becoming  choked 
with  dirt. 

As  regards  the  record  of  the  department  under  the 
new  administration,  it  more  than  held  its  own  in  the 
eyes  of  every  fair-minded  citizen  when  figures  were  ad- 
duced showing  that  the  various  commissioners  during 
the  five  years  beginning  with  1889  had  removed  221,569 
loads  of  snow,  at  a  total  cost  of  $178,737.34,  while  there 
were  removed,  in  the  five  weeks  under  the  new  direction, 
253,481  loads,  at  a  cost  of  $173,839.20.  In  this  short 
time,  then,  more  snow  was  removed,  at  less  expense, 
than  in  the  entire  five  years  prior  to  the  present  admin- 
istration, notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  department 
had  to  pay  $2  per  day  for  labor,  where  former  commis- 
sioners secured  theirs  for  $1.50. 

In  a  communication  at  the  time  the  commissioner  sum- 
marized the  whole  deplorable  situation  in  the  statement 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


103 


that  the  delay  in  paying  "  lay  entirely  at  the  door  of  or- 
ganized labor,"  and  showed  how  much  better  off  the  men 
would  be  under  the  contract  system,  with  their  some- 
what smaller  daily  wage  paid  immediately.  Many  of  the 
shovelers  worked  only  one  day,  earning  $2,  and  the 
average  for  all  men  working  on  the  last  four  days  of 
the  January  storm  was  only  $3.26.  For  this  pittance 
the  5028  men  who  had  earned  it  had  to  stand  around 
in  the  cold  or  wTet,  day  after  day,  to  get  their  money. 
Counting  the  time  spent  in  coming  for  their  pay,  these 
innocent  victims  of  an  iniquitous  law  earned  not  more 
than  50  cents  per  day.  Instead  of  receiving  50  cents 
per  day  more  than  their  services  were  worth  in  the  open 
market,  they  actually  earned  only  one  third  of  their  old 
wages.  In  other  words,  the  department  appeared,  as 
compared  with  the  former  padrone,  in  the  light  of  an 
unwieldy  concern,  whose  cumbersome  machinery  and 
necessary  red  tape  caused  its  temporary  employees  to 
work  fewer  hours  than  either  they  or  the  city  desired, 
and  not  only  to  receive  far  less  money,  but  to  be  com- 
pelled to  wait  for  it. 

To  one  who  remarks  the  ease  with  which  over  50,000 
loads  of  snow  are  now  removed  daily  under  the  contract 
system,  it  is  remarkable  to  look  back  upon  the  strain 
under  which  all  officials,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  # 
passed  the  entire  winter  only  two  years  ago.  From  the 
18th  of  January  to  and  including  the  21st  of  February, 
the  work  of  snow  removal  was  prosecuted  with  but  the 
intermission  of  seven  days  when  no  outside  work  was 
done.  The  district  superintendents  and  section  foremen 
worked  on  snow  removal  during  the  night  and  until  three 
or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  then  reported  bright 
and  early  the  next  day  for  the  Regular  work  of  removing 


104 


STREET-CLEANING 


ashes  and  garbage,  the  supervision  of  sweepers,  etc. 
This  unceasing  toil  was  kept  up  day  after  day,  and  even 
the  clerical  force  worked  twice  its  usual  hours.  Certain 
it  is  that,  since  the  relief  afforded  by  the  contract  sys- 
tem, the  department  will  never  again  see  such  a  severe 
and  long-continued  strain,  and  in  the  future  most  of  its 
officials,  as  was  the  case  during  the  winter  just  past, 
will  be  left  free  to  attend  to  the  routine  work  normally 
heavy  in  every  winter. 

In  the  event  of  a  snowfall  the  contractor  has  ample 
time  to  get  his  immense  organization  in  readiness  for  the 
commissioner's  order  to  begin  removal.  Usually  this  is 
not  given  until  the  snow  ceases,  unless  the  storm  is  seen 
to  be  a  heavy  one. 

When  the  order  is  received,  operations  are  begun  with- 
in a  few  hours  in  every  district  from  the  Battery  to  north 
of  the  Harlem  River,  and  almost  simultaneously  in  each. 
The  contractor's  trusted  subordinates  collect  large  num- 
bers of  the  unemployed  at  certain  fixed  meeting-places, 
and  gangs  are  formed  of  pilers  and  shovelers.  Owners 
of  carts  and  wagons  in  any  number  have  already  been 
told  at  the  beginning  of  the  season  where  to  report  in 
the  event  of  a  snow-storm,  and  at  any  time  during  the 
removal  a  man  with  a  vehicle  of  the  required  capacity  is 
put  to  work  immediately  upon  application.  There  are 
always  more  shovelers  applying  than  can  be  given  em- 
ployment, but  never  enough  carts. 

The  points  at  which  the  work  is  begun  are  fixed,  and 
the  schedules  remain  the  same  for  each  storm.  These 
points  are  chosen  as  far  as  possible  with  regard  to  their 
relative  importance,  but  with  due  consideration  to  the 
practical  problem  of  keeping  the  gangs  well  separated, 
at  equal  distances  from  the  river-front,  and  in  such  posi- 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


105 


tions  that  the  hauling  to  the  dumps  may  be  fairly  equal- 
ized according  to  the  capacity  of  each. 

At  each  loading-place  is  a  department  foreman,  who, 
after  a  cart  has  been  loaded  from  the  street  in  which  the 
work  is  being  conducted,  and  if  the  load  is  satisfactory 
in  size,  gives  to  the  driver  a  coupon  signifying  that  the 
snow  has  been  taken  under  department  supervision.  At 
the  piers  used  as  dumping-points  the  loaded  carts  move 
out  to  the  extreme  end  along  one  side;  the  drivers  dump 
their  snow  over  the  string-pieces  into  the  river,  and  sub- 
mit to  the  inspection  of  department  subordinates,  who 
see  that  the  carts  are  entirely  emptied,  that  no  snow  is 
dumped  on  the  pier,  and  that  no  false  loads  are  allowed 
for.  The  empty  carts  return  down  the  pier  in  single  file 
on  the  opposite  side,  passing  a  department  foreman  at 
the  street  end,  who  receives  from  the  driver  his  loading 
coupon,  and  hands  to  a  representative  of  the  contractor, 
standing  by  his  side,  an  equivalent  brass  check,  properly 
stamped  and  numbered,  as  a  tally  of  the  city's  indebted- 
ness. The  driver  then  receives  a  voucher  from  the  con- 
tractor's representative,  showing  that  a  load  of  snow  has 
been  regularly  hauled  and  dumped,  and  that  pay  for  the 
same  will  be  given  upon  presentation  of  the  voucher  at 
the  contractor's  main  offices.  This  is  negotiable,  as  is 
also  the  similar  voucher  for  hours  of  labor  performed 
which  is  handed  to  each  shoveler  at  the  close  of  his 
day's  work;  and  both  are  honored,  to  the  bearer  upon 
demand,  at  any  time  afterward. 

The  number  of  brass  checks  turned  in  each  day  by  the 
various  representatives  of  the  contractor  is  credited  to 
his  account  by  the  snow-inspeGtor,  and  constitutes  the 
basis  of  the  bills  presented  by  him  for  cubic  yards 
removed.  * 


10(5 


STREET-CLEANING 


Tne  a  Dove  outline  will  serve  to  indicate  general 
methods,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe  the  num- 
berless details  connected  with  the  administration  of  the 
work,  all  of  which,  however,  are  felt  very  forcibly  in  the 
labor  incident  to  the  removal  of  over  75,000  cubic  yards 
and  the  clearing  of  30  miles  of  streets  daily. 

After  the  first  storm  of  the  winter,  for  which  the  de- 
partment and  the  contractor  were  both  unprepared,  the 
system  of  inspection  was  practically  perfect.  The  load- 
ing and  dump  foremen  were  exceedingly  strict,  and  the 
loads  hauled  were  much  larger  than  ever  before.  The 
reports  of  the  various  inspectors  and  detectives  were 
most  encouraging,  and  not  a  suspicion  of  dishonesty  at- 
tached itself  to  any  of  the  transactions  incident  to  the 
loading  and  dumping.  The  controller's  representative 
was  given  every  facility  in  his  inspections  in  all  the 
districts,  and  expressed  the  highest  appreciation  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  city's  interests  were  being 
guarded. 

A  number  of  experiments  for  the  purpose  of  devising 
new  methods,  reducing  costs,  etc.,  were  conducted  dur- 
ing the  winter.  Plows  and  the  Hudson  River  ice-scrapers 
(for  asphalt  streets)  were  used  freely  wherever  the  re- 
sults warranted.  In  heavy  storms  the  plows  serve  to 
clear  a  passageway  in  the  street  until  removal  can  be 
secured.  The  scrapers  are  of  most  service  in  piling 
ahead  of  the  loading  gangs  in  light  falls. 

The  attempts  to  use  sweeping-machines,  with  specially 
prepared  brooms,  proved  unqualified  failures,  even  wThen 
begun  as  soon  as  the  snow  commenced  falling. 

On  Madison  Avenue,  from  Twenty-third  to  Forty-sec- 
ond streets,  the  snow  was  scraped  to  the  middle  of  the 
street  and  piled  in  long  ridges,  with  an  opening  in  the 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


107 


center  of  each  block  for  vehicles.  It  was  then  allowed 
to  remain,  with  the  hope  that  it  would  disappear  through 
natural  causes.  It  was  found,  however,  that  the  alter- 
nate melting  and  freezing  caused  thin  runnels  of  ice 
from  the  ridge  to  the  curb  on  each  side,  which  made  the 
street  almost  impassable  late  in  the  afternoon  and  at 
night,  and  the  department  was  forced  to  cart  away  the 
snow. 

On  the  Boulevard  from  Fifty-ninth  to  One  Hundred  and 
Twelfth  streets,  in  the  last  two  storms,  the  snow  was  not 
removed,  but  was  pushed  from  the  parkway  in  the  center 
toward  the  curb  on  each  side  and  there  piled  into  ridges. 
The  street  was  thus  opened  to  traffic  promptly  and  with 
very  little  expense.  No  ice  formed,  as  in  the  Madison 
Avenue  experiment,  because  the  drainage  was  not  across 
the  cleared  pavement.  The  only  disadvantage  of  the 
method  was  perceived  some  time  after  each  storm,  when 
the  snow  had  melted  from  all  the  neighboring  streets  and 
the  Boulevard  was  left  with  a  black,  dirty  ridge  on  either 
side  for  its  entire  length.  This  wTas  remedied  by  scatter- 
ing out. 

In  the  last  storm  of  the  season  the  rapidity  with  which 
the  Boulevard  was  opened  up  to  bicycling  and  traffic  by 
this  method  is  deserving  of  mention.  Although  the 
snow  did  not  cease  falling  until  Friday  night,  and  the 
storm  was  a  heavy  one,  by  Sunday  morning  the  entire 
length  of  this  popular  thoroughfare  from  Fifty-ninth 
Street  to  One  Hundred  and  Twelfth  Street  was  perfectly 
clean  and  dry,  and  was  traversed  by  hundreds  of  bicycles 
and  carriages. 

On  all  the  asphalt  and  some  of  the  stone  streets 
cleared  the  contractor  used  the  steel-pan  scrapers  (for 
asphalt  sweeping)  behind  his  carts,  scraping  the  thin, 


108 


STREET-CLEANING 


dirty  residue  into  piles,  which  were  afterward  removed. 
Their  use  was  productive  of  a  very  thorough  and  speedy 
final  clearing. 

Two  types  of  snow-melting  machines  were  given  care- 
ful trials  during  the  past  winter.  Of  these  the  one  using 
coke  as  fuel  proved  unsatisfactory;  but  the  naphtha- 
burning  machine  showed  a  fair  efficiency  in  all  three 
storms,  and  was  able,  in  the  last  two,  to  clear  a  long  city 
block  in  from  eight  to  ten  hours.  The  cost  of  running 
is  given  by  the  superintendent  of  the  company  control- 
ling the  machine  as  $10.15  per  hour,  which,  from  the 
reports  of  the  department  inspector  in  charge  of  the  ex- 
periments, is  believed  to  be  a  fair  estimate.  With  some 
improvements  added  since  the  last  storm,  the  company 
claims  a  cost  of  $8  or  less  per  hour,  and  an  efficiency  of 
a  cubic  yard  of  snow  per  minute. 

The  actual  average  efficiency  for  the  last  two  storms 
of  the  winter  (the  number  of  yards  melted  being  gaged 
by  the  loads  removed  in  carts  from  parallel  streets)  was 
a  little  over  two  thirds  of  a  cubic  yard  per  minute. 
Granting,  with  the  improvements  proposed,  an  efficiency 
of  one  yard  per  minute,  or  sixty  yards  per  hour,  at  a 
cost  per  hour  (actual  running  expense  only)  of  $10,  the 
melting-machine  of  this  type  would  dispose  of  the  snow 
at  a  cost  per  yard  of  16§  cents.  If  a  machine  were  run 
at  this  rate  the  complete  twenty-four  hours  without  a 
breakdown  it  would  be  equivalent  to  about  thirty  single 
carts,  working  both  day  and  night,  with  a  change  of 
horses. 

During  the  past  winter  the  actual  cost  of  carting  per 
yard  (exclusive  of  the  shoveling  items,  piling  and  load- 
ing) was  25  cents.  This  would  probably  be  increased  to 
30  cents,  including  the  omitted  items  and  taking  into 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  SNOW 


109 


account  the  expense  of  manning  and  caring  for  the 
dumps.  Considering  the  items  of  supervision  identical 
in  both  cases,  the  showing,  therefore,  is  in  favor  of  the 
machine. 

H.  L.  S. 


CHAPTER  XII 


STREET-RAILROADS  AND  PAVEMENTS  IN  NEW  YORK* 

■  ^HE  greatest  single  difficulty  with  which  the  De- 


partment of  Street-Cleaning  has  to  contend  is 


A  that  caused  by  the  horrible  condition  of  the  rail- 
way-tracks in  their  relation  to  the  pavement  adjoining 
them.  It  is  this  consideration  which  first  attracted  my 
attention  to  the  subject;  but  all  who  drive  or  ride  the 
bicycle  in  the  city  streets  must  have  had  their  attention 
called  to  the  subject  by  their  own  unpleasant  experiences. 

This  subject  had  forced  itself  on  my  attention  in  a 
general  way,  but  had  been  tacitly  accepted  as  inevitable. 
It  was  said  perhaps  very  properly  that  the  railway  com- 
panies had  laid  their  tracks  according  to  some  sort  of 
agreement  with  the  city,  and  that  they  could  not  be  re- 
quired to  go  to  the  expense  of  relaying  them.  It  was 
not  until  I  drove  in  Vienna  that  the  full  enormity  of  the 
situation  in  New  York  occurred  to  me.  The  railway- 
track  there  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  in  use  in  a 
portion  of  First  Avenue,  recently  laid  under  the  direction 


•  Reprinted  from  "  Harper's  Weekly." 
110 


STREET-RAILROADS  AND  PAVEMENTS  111 


of  General  Collis.  It  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  The  rail  is 
equally  high  on  both  sides  of  the  flange-groove.  This 
groove  is  not  such  as  to  catch  a  wheel.  The  rail  is  laid 
at  the  exact  level  of  the  pavement,  so  that  one  can  drive 
across  it  at  any  angle  without  noticing  it.  There  is  no 
depression  on  either  side  of  the  rail  to  hold  street  dirt 


Fig.  l. 


or  to  make  sweeping  difficult,  In  Vienna,  and  in  other 
European  towns,  rails  of  this  character  are  kept  clean 
by  the  railway  companies.  I  saw  two  men,  each  with  a 
suitable  scraper-scoop,  running  along  these  grooves  at 
an  ordinary  walking  gait.  A  wheelbarrow,  driven  by  an- 
other man  between  them,  received  the  contents  of  their 
scoops.    At  the  rate  at  which  they  were  working,  they 


Fig.  2. 


were  cleaning  at  least  two  and  a  half  miles  an  hour. 
This  seems  to  me  to  be  as  near  an  approach  to  civiliza- 
tion in  the  matter  of  car-track  and  street  pavement  as 
we  are  likely  to  get,  and  it  is  near  enough. 

Now  let  us  consider  what  we  have  to  contend  with. 
Fig.  2  shows  the  cross-section  of  pavement  and  rail  op- 
posite 15  Montgomery  Street.  There  is  a  pocket  for 
street  dirt  on  both  sides  of  the  rail,  and  a  serious  ob- 


112 


STREET-CLEANING 


struction  to  wagon  traffic  and  wheeling  is  caused  by  the 
unyielding  angular  ridge  of  iron,  standing  higher  than 
the  street-line  and  much  higher  than  the  depression  worn 
by  traffic  on  both  sides  of  the  rail.  When  water  accu- 
mulates in  these  depressions,  there  being  generally  a  lit- 
tle play  between  the  iron  rail  and  the  wood  to  which  it 
is  spiked,  every  time  the  rail  is  struck  by  a  vehicle  or 
depressed  by  the  car-wheel  there  is  apt  to  be  a  squirting 
of  black  juice  over  the  clothing  of  the  unfortunates  who 
have  not  learned  to  keep  a  sharp  eye  out  when  they  en- 
counter such  a  condition. 

Fig.  3,  opposite  222  West  Fourteenth  Street,  is  differ- 
ent, but  not  oetter.    The  car-track  seems  here  to  have 


Fig.  3. 


retired  modestly  to  the  bottom  of  its  hole,  but  the  power 
for  mischief  and  discomfort  is  quite  as  great  as  in  the 
other  case. 

Even  worse  is  the  condition  shown  in  Fig.  4,  opposite 
312  Canal  Street.  The  drop  from  the  top  of.  the  pave- 
ment to  the  bottom  of  the  pocket  in  this  case  is  eight 
inches.  This  cavern  has  been  worked  out  by  heavy 
trucks,  and  is  so  conspicuous  that  it  is  avoided  by  lighter 
vehicles  as  the  edge  of  a  precipice  would  be,  and  in  so 
far  is  less  annoying  to  those  who  care  what  kind  of  street 
it  is  over  which  they  drive.    But  imagine  what  a  prob- 


STREET-RAILROADS  AND  PAVEMENTS  113 

lem  it  offers  to  the  poor  "  white  angel "  whose  office  it 
is  to  keep  this  canon  clean! 

Opposite  423  Canal  Street  we  have  the  pleasing  com- 
bination shown  in  Fig.  5. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  6,  opposite  160  West  Fourteenth  Street,  shows 
another  similar  combination. 

And  these  are  fully  matched  at  23  Center  Street 
(Fig.  7),  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  city  hall. 

Opposite  19  West  Houston  Street  (Fig.  8)  the  difficulty 
is  different,  but  not  less.    The  narrow  slot  between  the 


Fig.  5. 


paving-stone  and  the  rail  is  too  narrow  for  a  sweeper's 
broom,  and  it  is  narrow  enough  to  grip  a  buggy-wheel 
with  fatal  effect. 

Fig.  9  shows  the  condition  of  the  Third  Avenue  track 
at  Twenty-ninth  Street.  Comment  is  unnecessary;  "it 
beggars  description." 

These  illustrations  are  selected  from  a  large  number 


114  STREET-CLEANING 

that  have  been  measured  and  platted,  with  a  view  to 
calling  the  attention  of  the  different  railway  companies 
and  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works  to  the  subject. 
Others  would  be  given  did  space  suffice,  but  surely  these 
are  enough  to  elicit  the  attention  of  the  public;  and  the 


Fig.  6. 


parallel  of  the  conditions  shown  may  be  observed  in  all 
parts  of  the  city  where  old  tracks  are  in  use. 

It  is  not  worth  while  here  to  go  into  the  theory  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  these  excavations  have  been  caused 
by  these  tracks.  It  is  all  clearly  explainable  and  easily 
understood.  The  important  fact  is  that  the  conditions 
exist,  and  that  the  city  cannot  afford  to  allow  them  to 


Fig.  7. 


continue.  Consider  the  great  strain  put  upon  all  vehicles 
coming  in  contact  with  such  holes  and  humps  as  are 
shown,  the  serious  straining  and  permanent  injury  of 
horses  due  to  the  sudden  dropping  of  a  wheel  into  one 
of  these  pits,  and  the  breaking  of  harness;  and  then  con- 
sider what  a  saving  it  would  be  to  the  people,  in  the 
matter  of  dollars  and  cents,  if  all  of  these  defective  con- 


STREET-R.  1  ILROADS  AM)  PAVEMENTS  115 


ditions  were  obliterated  and  all  rail  and  adjoining  pave- 
ment were  brought  into  the  condition  shown  in  Fig.  1. 
Consider  too— and  this  is  a  more  serious  matter  than 
would  at  first  appear— the  amount  of  profanity  and  bad 
temper  that  the  universal  dissemination  of  similar  con- 
ditions is  fostering  and  developing  throughout  the  whole 
driving  section  of  the  population.    These  are  important 


Fig.  8. 


considerations,  and  are  of  themselves  enough  to  warrant 
the  cost  of  a  radical  reform;  but  it  is  not  chiefly  these 
that  move  me  to  make  an  appeal  to  public  sentiment  to 
exert  itself  in  the  matter.  The  reporters,  with  their 
invariable  certainty  of  error,  have  quoted  me  on  several 
occasions  as  saying  that  if  the  proper  relation  between 


Fig.  9. 


car-track  and  pavement  could  be  established  the  $1,200,- 

000  now  spent  for  sweeping  might  be  reduced  to  $700,- 
000.  Of  course  I  never  said  anything  of  the  kind.  What 

1  did  say  was  that  if  we  could  secure  this  condition,  and, 
in  addition  thereto,  could  have  all  of  the  streets  of  suit- 
able grade  paved  with  asphalt,  then  we  could  save  this 
$500,000  a  year.    The  saving  from  the  mere  improvement 


116 


STREET-CLEANING 


of  car-track  conditions  would  be  much  greater  than 
would  be  supposed  by  those  who  have  not  watched  the 
efforts  and  the  various  devices  of  the  sweepers  to  get 
their  accumulated  dirt  across  one  of  these  tracks,  or  to 
clear  out  the  cavities  formed  beside  them. 

The  subject  need  not  be  enlarged  upon;  it  speaks  for 
itself;  and  I  say  no  more  about  it,  for  fear  of  occupying 
space  that  ought  to  be  devoted  to  the  illustrations,  fur- 
ther than  to  make  the  remark  that  if  the  railway  com- 
panies cannot  be  made  to  remedy  the  difficulty  themselves, 
—and  perhaps  they  cannot  be,— the  city  could  well  afford, 
with  a  view  to  the  saving  that  would  result  in  the  mat- 
ter of  street-sweeping  alone,  to  make  these  changes  at 
its  own  expense.  Many  of  the  horse  roads  are  about  to 
be  changed  to  power  roads.  In  all  such  cases  new  tracks 
must  be  laid,  and  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Works  to  control  both  track  and  pave- 
ment, as  has  been  done  in  First  Avenue.  These  roads 
being  eliminated,  the  cost  of  correcting  those  that  may 
remaik  will  be  relatively  unimportant.  Their  correction 
is  imperative. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


STREET-CLEANING  IN  EUROPE:  A  REPORT  OF  OBSER- 
VATIONS MADE  IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  1896 


HE  impression  produced  by  the  streets  of  Vienna 


on  the  newly  arrived  American  is  altogether  fa- 


A  vorable.  The  pavement  is  much  more  uniformly 
good  than  he  sees  at  home.  There  is  less  asphalt  than 
we  have,  but  the  granite  blocks,  which  are  almost  uni- 
versal, are  very  regular  and  are  very  closely  laid.  They 
are  perfect  cubes  of  about  eight-inch  size;  their  surfaces 
are  flat  and  their  edges  are  sharp.  As  they  are  stacked 
in  the  depot,  a  dozen  rows  high  and  in  piles  some  fifty 
feet  long,  they  lie  almost  as  close  and  true  to  line  as  so 
many  pressed  bricks.  In  the  streets  they  are  laid,  on  a 
true  foundation  of  concrete,  in  diagonal  rows,  the  lines 
of  their  opposite  corners  running  straight  across  from 
curb  to  curb.  The  surface  is  as  nearly  flat  as  the  need 
for  drainage  will  allow— much  flatter  than  with  us.  I 
should  say  that  on  a  roadway  twenty-five  feet  wide  the 

117 


VIENNA 


118 


STREET-CLEANING 


middle  is  not  more  than  two  inches  higher  than  the  edge, 
and  there  is  no  perceptible  deviation  from  a  true  surface 
either  crosswise  or  lengthwise  of  the  street.  The  joints 
between  the  blocks  do  not  average  more  than  a  quarter 
of  an  inch.  The  material  is  hard,  but  it  seems  not  to 
become  slippery  after  years  of  use.  The  asphalt  pave- 
ment is  equally  good,  and  both  are  on  the  average  de- 
cidedly better  than  with  us.  The  curbstones  are  heavier 
and  lower,  and  the  sidewalks  are  very  carefully  laid — 
often  with  the  same  blocks  as  the  streets. 

The  tracks  of  the  street-railroads  are  grooved  rails, 
somewhat  like  those  on  Broadway,  but  they  are  heavier, 
and  the  two  sides  of  the  rail  are  equally  high  and  equally 
broad.  The  groove  in  which  the  flange  of  the  wheel  runs 
is  narrower  than  the  narrowest  carriage-wheel,  so  that, 
in  driving,  the  wheel  passes  obliquely  to  and  fro  over  the 
track  without  interference  from  it  or  from  the  pavement 
beside  it.  Contrasted  with  our  "  center-bearing  rail," 
with  a  deep  wide  groove  between  it  and  the  stone  on 
each  side  of  it,  angering  the  driver,  wrenching  the  vehi- 
cle and  shortening  its  life,  this  Viennese  device  is  most 
attractive.  From  the  street-cleaner's  point  of  view,  the 
small  channel  (to  be  cleaned  by  the  railway-man's  scraper) 
is  a  vast  gain  over  the  two  deep  wide  ruts  that  no  broom 
can  clean  properly.  Doubtless  the  cost  of  introducing 
this  improved  rail  in  New  York  would  be  covered  in  a 
very  short  time  by  the  saving  of  wear  and  tear  of  vehicles 
and  harness,  and  by  the  greater  durability  of  the  adja- 
cent pavement,  to  say  nothing  of  the  comfort  and  cleanli- 
ness which  it  is  one  of  the  first  duties  of  city  government 
to  secure.  As  an  incident  of  the  changing  of  motive- 
power  and  other  work,  a  number  of  tracks  are  now  re- 
ceiving the  new  rail. 


IN  VIENNA 


119 


The  sidewalks  are  uniformly  and  always  clean;  they  are 
swept  twice  a  day  by  the  householders,  and,  except  in 
the  colder  months,  they  are  sprinkled  twice  a  day  by 
some  domestic  device,  ranging  from  a  large  bottle,  or  a 
pail  of  water  and  a  whisk,  to  a  watering-can.  I  asked 
the  head  of  the  street-cleaning  service  if  he  had  difficulty 
in  securing  the  proper  performance  of  this  work.  He 
said  that  he  gave  it  no  attention  whatever;  that  all  the 
people  do  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  just  as  they  attend  to 
the  floors  of  their  houses,  especially  to  those  which  may 
be  seen  by  others.  I  frequently  saw  persons  turn  aside 
to  spit  in  the  street;  I  never  saw  one  spit  on  the  side- 
walk. I  mention  these  deviations  from  the  cherished 
practices  of  my  native  land  not  because  I  am  "  un-Ameri- 
can," but  because  it  wras  my  purpose  to  learn  what  I 
could  and  to  report  what  I  learned. 

In  the  matter  of  street-sweeping  we  are  at  no  such 
disadvantage.  Our  best-paved  streets,  though  not  so 
well  paved  as  these,  are  better  cleaned;  and  our  worst 
streets,  with  a  pavement  that  would  not  be  tolerated 
anywhere  in  Europe,  are  cleaner  than  the  average  of  all 
except  the  best  in  Vienna.  The  finer  thoroughfares  in 
the  central  part  of  the  city  are  swept  by  machine  be- 
tween eleven  and  four  in  the  night— so  much  as  can  be 
done  by  ten  two-horse  machines  with  their  attendant 
sprinkling-carts.  I  drove  out  at  four  o'clock,  but  was 
already  too  late  to  overtake  them  at  their  work.  In 
some  places  I  found  the  sweepers  taking  up  the  "  stroke  " 
of  the  machines.  It  was  trifling  in  amount,  because 
these  streets  are  constantly  swept  in  the  daytime.  The 
machines  give  a  fair  start  in  the  morning;  but  this  is  a 
very  busy  town,  and  when  the  men  came  on  for  their 
work  at  six  there  was  already  much  for  them  to  do. 


120 


STREET-CLEANING 


The  sweeping  force  cannot  compare  with  our  own. 
Many  of  the  men  are  old,  few  of  them  seem  to  be  indus- 
trious, and  they  dress  like  the  New  York  sweepers  of 
days  long  past.  They  use  long-handled  birch-brooms, 
which  they  swing  over  a  wide  swath,  and  when  the  street 
is  dry  they  raise  a  merry  cloud  of  dust.  Some  of  them 
used  (and  most  of  them  seemed  to  have)  cans  with  very 
long  spouts  terminating  in  rose-sprinklers.  The  can  is 
held  against  the  breast,  and  the  body  is  swayed  from  side 
to  side,  throwing  the  water  over  a  considerable  width. 
It  seemed  a  good  plan.  Aside  from  the  broom  and  can, 
each  sweeper  has  a  shovel,  an  odd-shaped  dust-pan,  and 
a  medieval  two-wheeled  hand-cart,  weighing  as  much  as 
a  buggy. 

The  dust-pan  has  a  sheet-iron  bottom  about  eighteen 
inches  square,  and  wooden  sides  and  back  about  eight 
inches  high  (the  back  higher  than  the  sides).  From  the 
back  there  rises  vertically  a  handle  of  narrow  board,  with 
a  hole  for  the  hand;  the  board  reaches  to  about  the 
height  of  the  armpit.  This  is  held  with  the  left  hand 
and  arm,  the  iron  bottom  flat  on  the  ground,  and  the 
long  broom  is  worked  with  the  right  hand.  When  the 
pan  is  full  it  is  carried  to  the  side  of  the  street  and 
dumped  in  small  piles.  In  due  time  the  hand-cart  is 
trundled  to  one  pile  after  another  and  is  filled  with  the 
shovel.  Then  it  is  wheeled  away  to  some  convenient 
place  where  the  traffic  is  not  too  active,  and  its  contents 
are  shoveled  out  and  added  to  a  fast-growing  heap,  which 
is  afterward  shoveled  into  the  great  wagons  that  haul  it 
away  to  the  point  of  final  disposal. 

Vienna  is  divided  into  nine  wards.  Only  the  first 
(fiezirk  I.),  the  fine  central  part,  is  cleaned  entirely  by 
the  city's  own  force.    The  others  are  largely  cared  for 


IN  VIENNA 


121 


by  contractors.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  macadam  in  all 
the  wards,  even  in  the  central  one.  The  areas  are  re- 
corded by  square  meters,  which  is  necessary  because  some 
streets  are  200  feet  wide,  and  some  not  over  20  feet,  with 
roadways  in  proportion.  The  whole  roadway  area  is 
equal  to  about  550  miles  of  our  streets.  The  paved  street 
area  of  the  first  ward  equals  only  about  25  miles  of  ours. 
This  is  all  as  well  cleaned  as  the  Bowery  and  Grand  Street, 
much  of  it  as  well  as  Fifth  Avenue  and  Broadway. 

The  cost  of  cleaning  this  25  miles,  including  the  re- 
moval of  sweepings  and  house  wastes,  sprinkling  twice  a 
day  in  the  warmer  months,  and  removing  all  the  snow  in 
winter,  is  about  400,000  gulden.  At  the  present  rate  of 
exchange  the  gulden  is  worth  41j  cents.  In  wages  it  is 
worth,  as  compared  with  street-cleaners'  wages  in  New 
York,  about  $2.94.  That  is  to  say,  the  pay  of  a  sweeper 
in  Vienna  is  1  gulden  per  day,  and  he  works  ten  hours. 
Our  men  get  $2.30,  and  they  wTork  not  much  more  than 
eight  hours.  All  expenses  are  in  about  the  same  pro- 
portion, and  this  is  to  be  remembered  wThen  the  cost  of 
our  work  is  compared  with  that  of  Europe.  A  mile  of 
street  in  the  heart  of  Vienna  (calculated  to  our  width) 
costs,  sprinkling  and  snow  included,  about  16,000  gulden 
a  year.  A  mile  of  average  street  in  New  York  costs, 
without  sprinkling  and  snow,  $7190.  As  indicated  above, 
our  men  work  more  faithfully,  and  our  streets,  on  the 
average,  are  cleaner.  The  outlying  eight  wards  in 
Vienna  are  mostly  very  imperfectly  cleaned.  The  out- 
lay for  the  whole  city  is  only  about  1,500,000  gulden. 

The  average  cost  of  snow  removal  in  the  first  ward  is 
from  80,000  to  100,000  gulden.  After  heavy  storms  as 
many  as  12,000  extra  men  are  hired— mainly  in  the  first 
ward— and  thousands  of  teams  are  hired.    A  bargain 


122 


STREET-  CLEANING 


is  made  with  each  to  haul  away  the  snow  from  a  given 
area. 

The  work  is  well  systematized  as  to  all  that  is  done  by 
the  department,  save  that  the  sweepers  are  not  kept  up 
to  the  mark  as  they  might  be.  The  chief  overseer  of  each 
district  gets  only  1500  gulden  per  year,  while  our  district 
superintendent  gets  $1800;  but  he  is  usually  a  man  of 
good  position.  He  esteems  it  a  great  honor  to  have  such 
important  work  intrusted  to  him,  and  he  devotes  himself 
to  it. 

The  collection  of  house  wastes  goes  on  all  day,  but  the 
collecting-wagons  have  notice  given  of  their  coming,  by 
bell  or  otherwise,  and  the  garbage,  etc.,  in  boxes  and 
baskets  of  every  sort,  are  set  out  just  in  time  for  them. 
These  wagons  are  very  large  and  cumbersome,  and  they 
are  covered.  They  collect  sweepings  and  house  wastes 
indiscriminately,  and  are  hauled  out  about  an  hour's  dis- 
tance into  the  country,  where  their  contents  are  turned 
over  to  the  "  scow-trimming  "  contractor  of  the  locality. 
The  unsalable  refuse  is  finally  used  for  filling  depressions 
left  by  the  old  course  of  the  Danube.  The  contractor 
and  his  wife  work  at  the  "  picking  "  like  the  men,  women, 
and  children  whom  they  employ.  Their  business  is  well 
managed,  and  little  that  can  be  turned  to  account  is  al- 
lowed to  escape.  An  important  item  of  their  collection 
is  fuel— bits  of  wood,  cinders,  coal,  etc.;  and  this  is  made 
the  subject  of  a  very  Yankee-like  piece  of  cleverness. 
The  workmen  are  allowed  to  carry  home  all  of  this  ma- 
terial that  they  collect  on  Saturday.  They  seem  not  to 
consider  that  the  sufficiency  of  their  output  in  the  same 
line  on  the  other  five  days  of  the  week  is  measured  by 
the  Saturday  standard. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  no  fair  comparison 


IN  VIENNA 


123 


can  be  made  between  the  street-cleaning  work  of  this 
city  and  that  of  New  York,  even  if  it  would  be  proper 
for  me  to  make  it.  The  conditions  are  all  very  different. 
Some  of  our  methods  could  be  adopted  with  advantage  in 
Vienna,  and  some  of  their  apparatus  would  be  worth  try- 
ing in  New  York.  For  example,  their  sweeping-machines 
are  of  a  much  better  pattern  than  ours,  and  they  have 
a  snow-plow  that  is  most  useful.  Though  this  latter 
costs  about  900  gulden,  the  street-railways  use  200  of 
them,  and  the  city  has  nearly  the  same  number  for  its 
own  work. 

There  are  street-sprinkling  wagons  of  various  sorts. 
One  has  about  eight  feet  of  hose  leading  from  its  tap, 
and  a  boy,  walking  at  a  safe  distance  behind  it,  jerks  a 
connecting-rope  in  such  a  way  as  to  swing  the  end  of  the 
hose  from  side  to  side,  throwing  a  good  spray  over  a 
width  of  four  yards  or  more.  This  seems  crude,  but  it 
is  effective.  Another  wagon  which  finds  much  favor  in 
the  department  is  a  very  complete  machine.  Its  reser- 
voir of  iron  is  hermetically  sealed,  and  it  has  an  air-pump, 
worked  by  the  revolution  of  a  hind  wheel  by  means  of  a 
sprocket  and  chain  (like  a  bicycle).  The  pressure  may 
be  regulated  anywhere  from  one  ounce  to  thirty 'pounds 
per  square  inch,  and  the  spray  may  be  delivered  to  the 
rear  or  to  either  side  at  will,  or  to  the  full  half-circle. 
Everything  is  under  the  easy  control  of  the  driver.  The 
work  is  effective  for  a  width  of  twenty-five  feet  or  more, 
or  less,  according  to  the  pressure  given.  It  is  a  great 
advantage  of  this  watering-wagon  that  it  sprinkles  the 
streets  without  deluging  them. 


124 


STREET-CLEANING 


BUDAPEST 

Budapest,  although  it  is  now  celebrating  its  thousandth 
anniversary,  is  practically  a  new  city.  To  those  who  are 
fond  of  international  comparisons,  it  is  "  the  Chicago  of 
Europe."  The  comparison  is  not  altogether  apt,  for  Buda- 
pest is  very  well  and  handsomely  built  to  its  outer  edges, 
and  its  public  buildings  and  public  places  are  regal  in  their 
aspect,  while  it  has  very  little  of  the  wonderful  industrial 
and  business  activity  of  Chicago.  Its  principal  streets 
are  wide  and  long,  and  they  have  stretched  out  over  the 
level  plain  with  marvelous  rapidity.  Both  towns  have 
grown  too  fast,  and  are  now  feeling  the  effect  in  the  form 
of  financial  lassitude.    Here  the  resemblance  stops. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  street-cleaner,  no  com- 
parison is  possible,  for  the  Hungarian  capital  is  very 
clean.  It  is— save  in  some  of  its  older  streets— unusu- 
ally well  paved  where  it  is  paved,  and  perfectly  macad- 
amized where  it  is  not  paved.  Andrassystrasse,  the  finest 
and  longest  street,  is  paved  with  wood,  after  the  best 
London  and  Paris  model— than  which,  when  it  is  well 
kept,  nothing  in  the  world  is  better,  from  the  street- 
cleaning  point  of  view. 

In  the  matter  of  the  sweeping  of  streets  and  sidewalks 
and  of  the  collection  of  household  wastes,  the  methods 
here  are  substantially  the  same  as  in  Vienna,  save  that 
the  sweepers  are  active  young  men  and  are  much  more 
industrious.  Other  differences  are  only  in  details  of  lit- 
tle importance,  except  with  regard  to  the  cab-stands, 
which  are  many  and  are  actively  used.  These  are  gen- 
erally a  little  lower  than  the  street,  are  graded  to  a 


IN  BUDAPEST 


125 


sewer  inlet,  and  are  asphalted.  They  are  swept  and 
thoroughly  flushed  and  scrubbed  several  times  a  day,  so 
that  the  usual  odor  and  untidiness  of  such  places  are  en- 
tirely obviated. 

The  area  of  paved  streets  is  equal  to  about  150  miles 
of  New  York  streets.  The  cost  of  snow  removal  in  the 
winter  of  1895-96  was  160,000  gulden.  Wages  are  1 
gulden  per  day.  The  entire  cost  for  all  cleaning,  snow 
removal,  transportation  of  wastes,  and  street-sprinkling 
averages  about  800,000  gulden  per  year. 

In  the  matter  of  final  disposition  Budapest  is  very  in- 
structive and  interesting.  Everything  is  hauled  to  a 
station  some  three  miles  away.  Here  the  wagons,  night- 
soil  vans,  etc.,  are  dumped  into  cars  standing  in  a  tun- 
nel under  the  dumping-platforms.  The  loaded  trains  run 
out  about  three  miles  farther,  to  Kleinpest,  a  point  re- 
mote from  all  population,  save  for  the  two  hundred  and 
fifty  men,  women,  and  children  working  about  the  dis- 
posal plant.  They  are  a  curious  community.  The  works 
have  been  in  operation  for  some  thirty  years,  and  most 
of  those  nowT  employed  were  born  in  the  "  Kehrichtring  " 
(Rubbish  Boulevard),  as  they  call  their  village.  They  are 
not  an  attractive  community,  and  the  older  members  are 
said  to  spend  most  of  their  wages  in  drink.  Save  for 
the  effects  of  this  dissipation,  there  is  little  sickness,  and 
it  is  evidently  not  in  itself  an  unhealthy  industry  in 
which  they  are  engaged. 

The  whole  business  of  final  disposition  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  contractor  who  has  controlled  it  for  twenty  years  or 
more.  He  is  a  very  wealthy  man  and  a  large  landholder, 
whose  interest  lies  largely  in  the  value  of  the  manure  for 
his  farms.  He  owns  the  dump,  the  railroad  and  its 
equipment,  and  the  separating  machinery.    He  receives 


126 


STREET-CLEANING 


from  the  city  115,000  gulden  per  year,  in  addition  to  the 
material  delivered  to  him. 

After  this  year  his  contract  will  be  extended  to  include 
the  collection  in  the  town  and  the  hauling  to  the  dump; 
and  he  is  building  a  branch  line  to  connect  his  works 
with  the  state  railroads,  to  widen  the  market  for  his 
fertilizers.  He  has,  up  to  this  time,  made  no  money 
profit,  but  he  has  had  a  good  supply  of  manure  for  home 
use,  and  has  accumulated  enormous  deposits,  which  the 
new  railroad  connection  will  enable  him  to  sell. 

The  separation-works  were  started  nearly  thirty  years 
ago  by  Mr.  Ignatius  Fischer,  who  was  then  the  contrac- 
tor. He  had  more  ingenuity  and  enterprise  than  capital, 
and  he  became  the  manager  of  the  works  under  his  suc- 
cessor. He  is  a  man  of  quick  intelligence,  and  has  built 
up,  little  by  little,  with  the  aid  of  a  competent  mechani- 
cal engineer  and  lately  of  a  chemist,  a  very  complete 
factory  for  the  separation  of  the  wastes  and  the  manu- 
facture of  fertilizers,  etc.  The  chemist  was  for  some 
years  with  Edison  in  New  York.  He  is  now  carrying  on 
successful  experiments  in  the  direction  of  the  develop- 
ment of  ammonia  and  other  marketable  products  from 
certain  parts  of  the  refuse.  Nearly  all  of  the  handling 
and  separation  of  the  material  is  done  by  machinery,  only 
the  culling  out  of  the  salable  wastes  requiring  manual 
labor. 

The  apparatus  is  contained  in  a  large  four-story  brick 
building  with  ample  steam-power,  unsalable  rubbish 
being  the  fuel  used.  The  railroad-cars  are  unloaded  into 
small  tram-wagons,  which  are  hauled  by  an  endless  chain 
from  a  tunnel  under  the  track  up  a  steep  slope  to  the 
top  of  the  building,  where  they  are  dumped  into  the 
mouth  of  a  coarse  revolving  screen,  which  holds  back 


IN  BUDAPEST 


127 


large  sticks,  boxes,  old  baskets,  broken  watermelons  (this 
is  the  land  of  the  best  and  cheapest  watermelons  in  the 
world),  and  other  large  objects.  What  passes  through 
the  wide  meshes  of  this  screen  runs  into  another  with  a 
very  close  mesh.  This  takes  out  the  dust  and  the  fine 
horse-manure  as  ground  up  by  the  wheels  and  the  sweep- 
ers in  the  streets,  and  sends  it  to  the  wagons  running  to 
the  manure-dumps.  The  next  screen  divides  the  remain- 
ing material  roughly  into  twTo  grades,  for  easier  hand- 
picking. 

The  picking-tables,  which  are  very  long,  are  furnished 
with  endless  aprons  of  heavy  hemp  cloth  about  two  feet 
wide.  These  move  slowly  between  two  rows  of  women 
and  children,  who  select  the  various  treasures  to  which 
they  are  assigned,  each  after  its  kind.  The  white-bottle 
boy  lets  the  green  bottles  pass,  and  the  big-bone  woman 
pays  no  attention  to  the  small  bones;  these  meet  their 
fate  farther  on.  One  group  of  children  devotes  itself 
entirely  to  corks,  another  to  nails,  another  to  strings, 
and  so  on.  As  the  cloth  finally  turns  over  the  end  of  the 
table  it  drops  all  of  its  rejected  material  into  a  conveyer, 
which  carries  it  to  the  manure-wagon.  In  the  heap  to 
which  it  is  added  there  goes  on  a  process  of  "  bacteriol- 
ysis 99  that  reduces  it  all  to  the  condition  of  a  fine  com- 
post fit  for  the  fields.  Curiously  (to  us),  no  use  is  made 
of  paper  or  rags,  save  as  they  are  required  for  fuel.  The 
wrood-pulp  industry  and  the  German  tariff  on  paper  stock 
have  robbed  them  of  all  commercial  value.  This,  too,  in 
the  face  of  a  minuteness  of  economy  that  is  careful  not 
to  let  a  single  old  cork  escape,  although  the  only  sale  for 
the  corks  is  to  make  fenders  for  the  use  of  the  boats  on 
the  Danube.  Nothing  that  has  the  slightest  selling  value 
is  allowed  to  escape,  and  what  cannot  be  sold  in  its  pres- 


128 


STREET-CLEANING 


ent  form  is  turned  over  to  the  productive  industry  of  the 
microbes  of  the  compost-heaps. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  these  very  complete  works,  de- 
veloped through  years  of  patient  study  of  the  refuse  of 
the  saving  population  of  Budapest,  presented  food  for 
much  thought  to  one  whose  official  functions  compel  him 
to  dump  outside  of  Sandy  Hook  two  and  a  half  million 
cubic  yards  a  year  of  the  wastes  of  the  wasteful  city  of 
New  York,  where  rags  and  paper  sell  for  a  good  price. 
Our  conditions  are  very  different  from  those  of  Budapest, 
and  different  measures  must  be  taken  here;  but  if  we  can 
ever  reach  the  minute  economy  of  the  works  at  Kleinpest, 
we  ought,  with  our  richer  refuse  and  our  higher  prices, 
to  derive  an  income  from  our  rubbish  sufficient  to  pay 
much  of  the  cost  of  running  the  Department  of  Street- 
Cleaning.  In  support  of  this  opinion  it  is  to  be  said  that 
the  recovery  and  sale  of  paper,  rags,  bottles,  metals,  rub- 
ber, wood,  coal,  bone,  grease,  corks,  strings,  shoes,  hats, 
and  other  things  that  are  thrown  away,  to  the  value  of 
half  a  cent  a  day  for  each  member  of  the  population, 
should  that  be  possible,  would  amount  to  much  more  than 
the  whole  appropriation  for  street-cleaning.  We  may 
never  reach  this  figure,  but  the  sum  total  thus  to  be 
saved  will  surely  be  very  large,  and  the  experience  of 
Budapest  is  full  of  promise  and  instruction  for  us. 


BERLIN 

For  several  reasons  Berlin  offers  special  attractions  as 
a  field  for  the  study  of  street-cleaning  methods  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  work  in  New  York.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  the  only  large  city  in  Europe  in  which  the 


IN  BERLIN 


129 


sweepers  are  uniformed— beyond  a  special  cap  or  badge, 
serving  for  identification,  but  not  modifying  the  varie-  1 
gated  clothing  of  the  common  workman.  In  the  next 
place,  Mr.  Albert  Shaw,  in  his  "Municipal  Government 
in  Continental  Europe,"  gives  prominence  to  the  cleanly 
condition  of  the  streets,  and  he  sets  forth  in  detail  and 
very  clearly  the  excellent  government  of  Berlin;  while 
Miss  Colbron's  paper  in  the  New  York  "Times"  last 
spring  indicated  a  very  good  management  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Street-Cleaning. 

My  investigation  showTed  almost  at  the  outset  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  Berlin  department's  own  statement,  in  its 
last  annual  report,  that  "  comparisons  with  other  great 
cities  cannot  convey  a  correct  impression  as  to  the  rela- 
tive cost  of  the  work,  because  the  conditions  are  so  dif- 
ferent." 

This  applies  to  methods  and  to  results  as  well  as  to 
cost.  For  example,  in  New  York  we  sweep  every  street 
at  least  once  a  day;  we  do  not  sprinkle  the  streets;  we 
do  not  sweep  the  sidewalks;  we  remove  all  household 
refuse;  and  we  are  charged  with  the  final  disposition  of 
street  and  household  wastes  of  every  kind.  This  last 
item  costs  us  about  $475,000  per  year.  In  Berlin,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  department  sweeps  the  streets  on  an 
average  of  only  three  times  a  week;  it  sprinkles  the 
streets;  it  sweeps  all  the  sidewalks;  it  has  nothing  what- 
ever to  do  with  household  wastes  of  any  kind,  neither 
ashes,  garbage,  nor  refuse;  it  disposes  only  of  the  dirt 
swept  up  in  the  streets  and  from  the  sidewalks,  and  it 
pays  a  contractor  for  this  removal  only  about  $140,000. 

With  us  practically  no  street  dirt  is  allowed  to  be  run 
into  the  sewers.  In  Berlin  all  that  can  be  made  liquid 
enough  is  so  disposed  of.    Wejiave  to  find  our  own 


130 


STREET-CLEANING 


points  of  disposal,— thus  far  at  sea,— while  in  Berlin  this 
•  is  the  lookout  of  the  contractor. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that,  however  much  we  may  find 
that  is  of  interest,  we  cannot  make  useful  comparisons 
as  to  cost  nor  as  to  processes.  The  rate  of  wages  and 
the  number  of  persons  employed  differ  in  a  most  impor- 
tant degree.  Our  force  numbers  about  2700,  of  all 
grades,  and  we  pay  our  sweepers  and  drivers  an  average 
of  about  $680  per  year.  In  Berlin  the  force  numbers 
only  about  900,  men  and  boys,  and  their  average  pay  is 
not  more  than  about  $260  per  year.  Our  annual  outlay 
is  about  $3,000,000;  that  of  Berlin  is  about  $760,000.  The 
two  cities  are  of  very  nearly  the  same  population. 

Therefore,  setting  comparison  aside,  let  us  see  just  what 
the  work  of  the  department  is  in  Berlin,  and  how  it  is  done. 

The  more  frequented  streets  are  swept  every  day, 
others  three  times  a  week,  others  twice  a  week,  and 
others  again  only  once  a  week.  Those  that  are  not  swept 
daily  are  looked  to  pretty  constantly,  and  any  excessive 
fouling  is  removed  by  ambulant  gangs  employed  for  this 
purpose.  The  sidewalks  are  swept  early  in  the  morning. 
Very  much  of  the  street-sweeping  is  done  by  machinery, 
by  contractors,  and  this  is  almost  exclusively  night-work, 
beginning  at  eleven  o'clock  and  ending  before  six  in  the 
morning.  The  "  stroke  "  of  the  machine  is  swept  into 
heaps,  shoveled  into  wheelbarrows,  and  dumped  at  con- 
venient points,  from  which  it  is  taken  by  the  contractors' 
wagons.  I  was  out  on  one  very  rainy  night  and  found 
a  good  deal  of  this  dirt  being  run  into  the  sewer  inlets. 
In  these  much  of  the  sand  is  held  back  by  a  trap,  while 
much  sand  and  most  of  the  mud  enter  the  sewers,  from 
which  it  is  necessary  from  time  to  time  to  remove  de- 
posits by  flushing  or  by  mechanical  means. 


IN  BERLIN 


131 


As  in  all  European  cities,  sand  is  used  very  freely  to 
prevent  the  slipping  of  horses  on  the  pavements,  espe- 
cially on  asphalt  and  wood.  The  sanding  and  the  removal 
of  the  ground-up  sand  add  much  to  the  work  of  the  de- 
partment. 

The  asphalt  pavement  is  mainly  very  good.  The  same 
can  hardly  be  said  for  the  wood  pavement.  And  this  is 
evidently  the  universal  opinion  of  the  cab-drivers.  I 
had  no  opportunity  to  inquire  into  the  reason  for  this 
defect,  which  does  not  exist  in  London  and  Paris,  but  I 
was  especially  struck  with  the  fact  that  a  wide  expanse 
of  wood  pavement  on  Unter  den  Linden,  near  the  museum, 
was  a  series  of  small  pools  during  rain,  and  that  driving 
over  this  in  any  weather  was  very  jolty  business  as  com- 
pared with  the  asphalt  in  its  neighborhood.  Such  ir- 
regularity of  surface  is  a  great  drawback  to  successful 
machine-sweeping,  and  adds  to  the  labor  of  hand-swreep- 
ing.  Without  noticeable  exception,  however,  the  pave- 
ment of  this  city  is  far,  very  far,  from  being  so  bad  as 
that  of  most  New  York.  It  is  only  our  asphalt  streets 
that  are  as  good  as  these.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are 
in  Berlin  many  macadamized  streets  which  get  only  a 
superficial  cleaning. 

The  question  of  the  pay  and  the  general  treatment  of 
the  men  is  well  worth  our  consideration.  As  we  have 
seen,  the  rate  of  wages  is  very  low.  A  gang-leader  gets 
only  93  cents  per  day;  a  workman  of  the  first  class  only 
81  cents;  a  workman  of  the  second  class  only  GS  cents; 
and  a  boy  only  40  cents.  These  are  more  than  the  usual 
rate  of  wages,  not  only  in  Berlin,  but  in  the  country 
generally.  From  the  standard  of  comfortable  support, 
these  amounts  are  obviously  sufficient.  The  employees 
are  strong,  well  fed,  and  in  good  condition,  and  the  ser- 


132 


STREET-CLEANING 


vice  is  eagerly  sought  after;  for,  aside  from  the  pay,  the 
attending  conditions  are  very  favorable.  In  the  first 
place,  the  city  furnishes  uniforms  and  tools,  and  it  takes 
good  care  of  its  working-people.  The  boys,  who  are  used 
mainly  for  cleaning  the  streets  of  horse-droppings  and 
litter  during  the  daytime,  are  taken  on  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen or  seventeen.  When  they  reach  the  age  for  military 
service  they  go  into  the  army,  and  they  have  a  prefer- 
ence for  reemployment  after  their  discharge.  The  sec- 
ond-class men,  who  number  only  about  seventy  in  all,  are 
raised  to  the  first  class  within  a  single  year,  and  some- 
times earlier  when  especial  fitness  for  the  work  is  shown. 
After  four  years  of  satisfactory  service  the  men  are  as- 
sured their  positions  for  life,  with  the  pensions  and  other 
benefits  provided  for.  In  other  words,  employment  in 
the  street-cleaning  service  opens  a  life-career  to  those 
who  properly  fulfil  the  requirements  of  their  positions. 

The  work  is  exacting  rather  than  hard.  The  regular 
men  who  follow  the  sweeping-machines  work  from  mid- 
night until  eight  in  the  morning;  but  they  have  a  half- 
hour  for  breakfast,  so  that  their  actual  work  is  only  for 
seven  and  a  half  hours.  The  day  men  work  from  seven 
in  the  morning  till  seven  in  the  evening  in  summer,  and 
from  eight  till  eight  in  the  winter;  but  they  have  three 
hours  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper,  making  the  time 
of  actual  working  nine  hours  per  day.  The  force  is 
changed  about  so  that  each  has  his  fair  share  of  day 
and  night  work.  On  Sundays  and  holidays  the  day  men 
work  only  from  six  to  nine  in  the  morning,  and  they  re- 
ceive full  pay  for  these  days. 

At  the  same  time  they  are  considered  to  be  on  duty 
every  day  at  all  hours,  so  that  in  the  case  of  floods,  heavy 
storms,  snow,  etc.,  they  may  be  called  on  at  any  time  for 


IN  BERLIN 


133 


any  amount  of  extra  work.  They  are  legally  entitled  to 
no  extra  pay  for  this;  but  the  department  has  a  small 
fund,  furnished  by  the  City  Council,  from  which  it  may, 
and  does,  in  its  discretion,  give  a  gratuity  to  those  who 
have  done  especially  well,  or  who  may  have  shown  spe- 
cial efficiency  or  fidelity  in  their  work.  This  is  accepted 
gratefully  as  a  bonus,  not  received  as  a  right.  Taking 
the  year  through,  day  and  night,— Sundays,  holidays,  and 
all,— and  counting  emergencies,  the  work  averages  eight 
hours  per  day. 

One  of  the  best  features  of  the  system  is  the  manner 
in  which  illness  and  disability  are  treated.  If  a  man  is 
disqualified  by  sickness  he  is  paid  his  full  wages  for  three 
days.  After  that  his  pay  ceases,  but  he  gets  the  benefit 
of  the  sick-fund.  If  he  is  permanently  disabled,  sup- 
posing him  to  be  a  life-member  of  the  force,  the  City 
Council  awards  him,  in  addition  to  the  benefits  to  which 
he  is  entitled  from  the  sick-fund,  etc.,  from  $100  to 
$150  per  year  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  If  he  is  able  to 
do  light  work,  light  work  he  must  do;  but  if  he  has  been 
for  four  years  a  faithful  member  of  the  street-cleaning 
force,  he  is  sure  of  support  till  he  dies.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  in  Berlin  soul  and  body  can  be  comfor- 
tably kept  together  for  even  as  little  as  $100  per  year. 

The  gratuity  from  the  Council  comes  from  a  fund  of 
$1000,  which  has  been  maintained,  since  before  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  sick-fund,  for  use  in  the  relief  of 
special  cases.  From  this  source  a  disabled  man  may 
receive  an  amount  equal  to  one  half  his  regular  wages; 
and  it  sometimes  happens  that  with  this  and  the  sick- 
fund— especially  when  a  man  is  entitled  to  draw  from 
two  such  funds— an  idle  man  gets  more  than  a  working- 
man's  pay.    Such  instances  are  very  exceptional.    As  a 


134 


STREET-CLEANING 


rule,  men  who  have  been  in  receipt  of  benefits  are  very 
glad  to  get  back  to  work  again. 

The  sick-fund  was  established  in  1892,  but  in  this 
short  time  it  has  proved  to  be  a  great  benefit,  and  the 
results  have  been  most  satisfactory.  In  1894,  out  of  a 
membership  of  900,  318  received  more  or  less  help  from 
the  fund.  The  receipts  of  the  fund  were  $8462,  and  the 
payments  for  disability  were  $4975.  At  the  end  of  1894 
the  invested  fund  amounted  to  $7281.  The  prosperity 
was  such  that  the  committee  was  directed  at  the  general 
meeting  to  increase  the  benefit  from  half-pay  for  thirteen 
weeks'  sickness  to  two-thirds  pay  for  twenty-six  weeks, 
and  the  death  payment  was  raised  from  twenty  days'  pay 
to  forty  days'  pay.  Unmarried  men  in  hospitals  receive 
one  tenth  of  the  amount  of  their  wages  for  pocket-money. 
The  flourishing  condition  of  the  fund  makes  these  liberal 
disbursements  safe.  In  addition  to  this  fund,  there  is  a 
voluntary  funeral  fund,  which  gives  aid  to  the  families 
of  deceased  members. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  men  who  have  served  for  twenty- 
five  years  get  special  extra  compensation.  In  short, 
everything  possible  is  done  to  make  each  individual  man 
feel  that  he  is  not  so  much  an  employee  of  the  depart- 
ment as  one  of  its  members,  and  that  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  he  is  sure  of  care,  protection,  and  support. 

The  uniform  is  modest  and  neat  rather  than  conspicu- 
ous, and  is  thus  less  useful  in  calling  public  attention  to 
the  care  the  streets  are  receiving  and  in  enlisting  public 
aid  in  the  avoidance  of  littering.  Perhaps  it  is  better 
suited  to  the  temper  of  the  people  of  Berlin;  but  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  in  New  York  the  fact  that  the 
sweepers  stare  the  public  in  the  face  in  every  street  has 
had  much  effect  in  securing  popular  approbation  and 


IN  BERLIN 


135 


assistance.  The  belted  blouse  of  the  Berlin  uniform  is 
originally  black,  but  the  weather  soon  gives  it  a  not  un- 
pleasant greenish  hue;  the  cap  is  flat  and  not  large;  and 
the  trousers,  at  this  season  at  least,  are  of  unbleached 
duck— both  long,  for  good  weather,  and  short,  with  long 
boots,  for  rainy  days.  Some  of  the  men  and  many  of 
the  boys  have  a  black  haversack  strapped  over  the 
shoulder,  in  which  are  carried  a  water-proof  cape,  a 
hunk  of  black  bread,  etc. 

As  already  indicated,  all  manner  of  household  wastes 
are  removed  by  private  contractors,  of  whom  there  are 
some  two  hundred,  large  and  small.  They  take  these 
wastes  from  the  interior  of  the  house,  and  our  unsightly 
"  receptacles "  and  ash-barrels  are  never  seen  on  the 
sidewalk.  There  is  no  systematic  method  of  disposal. 
Those  who  remove  house  wastes,  as  well  as  those  who 
haul  away  the  street-sweepings,  must  provide  their  own 
dumping-places.  Much  is  sold  for  manure,  some  is  used 
for  filling  low  lands,  and  some  is  deposited  in  useless 
heaps.  The  city  is  growing  so  rapidly  that  its  refuse 
must  be  carried  farther  and  farther  afield,  with  an  at- 
tendant increase  of  cost. 

As  a  relief  from  this  condition,  very  careful  experi- 
ments have  been  carried  on  for  a  year  or  more  in  the 
direction  of  destruction  by  fire;  but  they  have  been 
abandoned  because  of  the  high  cost  of  cremation  when 
applied  to  Berlin  refuse.  While  this  process  is  reason- 
ably economical  in  Hamburg,  where  English  coal  is  largely 
used  for  fuel,  leaving  a  certain  amount  of  combustible 
cinder  in  the  ash,  which  helps  the  burning,  it  is  found  that 
the  "  brown  coal  "  and  "  briquettes  n  used  in  Berlin  make 
much  more  ash,  which  has  no  remnant  of  fuel  left  in  it. 
What  is  to  be  done  in  the  matter  is  not  yet  determined. 


136 


STREET-CLEANING 


I  was  not  in  the  city  long  enough  to  form  a  correct 
opinion  as  to  its  cleanliness,  and  it  rained  much  of  the 
time,  the  rain  helping  the  work  in  some  ways  and  hin- 
dering it  in  others.  I  got  the  impression  that  it  is  not 
cleaner  nor,  save  as  to  ash-barrels,  more  tidy  than  New 
York.  Possibly  longer  observation,  in  better  weather, 
would  have  given  another  impression. 


PARIS 

It  was  with  especial  interest  that  I  made  my  first  ex- 
amination of  the  streets  of  Paris,  for  I  remembered  them 
as  being  in  excellent  condition  in  1889  (Exposition  year). 

After  a  close  and  careful  examination,  I  should  say 
that  they  are  quite  as  well  swept  as  our  streets,  and  that 
there  is  nowhere  to  be  found  the  defective  pavement  of 
which  we  have  so  much.  In  the  matter  of  litter,  how- 
ever, I  think  that  New  York  is  much  better  cared  for. 
Except  in  the  more  frequented  show  streets^  and  to  a 
certain  extent  even  there,  there  is  more  paper  scattered, 
and  in  many  parts  of  the  town  much  less  attention  seems 
to  be  paid  to  its  collection  and  removal.  On  the  whole, 
I  think  we  lose  nothing  in  the  comparison.  New  York 
is  as  clean  and  at  least  as  tidy  as  Paris.  The  methods 
of  work  in  the  French  capital  are  in  many  respects  dif- 
ferent from  what  was  found  in  other  cities,  and  very 
different  from  the  methods  here. 

In  1859  the  cleaning  of  the  streets  was  transferred 
from  the  Prefecture  de  Police  to  the  Prefecture  de  la 
Seine,  and  it  was  then  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Engi- 
neering Department.    The  cost  at  that  time  could  not 


IN  PARIS 


137 


be  learned;  but  the  cost  in  1872  was  3,808,000  francs;  in 
1877  it  was  4,618,000;  in  1889  it  was  6,530,000.  It  is  now 
about  8,000,000  francs.  Formerly  it  was  the  duty  of  all 
property-owners  to  clean  one  half  of  the  street,  if  this  did 
not  exceed  6  meters  (20  feet).  This  work  is  now  done 
by  the  city,  and  is  paid  for  by  a  special  tax  on  the  prop- 
erty, which,  for  this  purpose,  is  divided  into  three  classes: 
that  occupied  (1)  by  buildings,  (2)  by  walls  or  open 
grounds,  (3)  by  vacant  lots.  In  no  case  is  the  charge 
more  than  the  actual  cost  to  the  city;  in  some  cases  it 
is  materially  less.  Property-holders  must  still  remove 
snow  and  ice  from  the  sidewalks,  according  to  specific 
regulations. 

The  total  surface  swept  (1889)  was  15,562,000  square 
meters.  Of  this,  the  property  taxed  paid  for  8,721,000 
meters,  and  the  city  for  6,840,000.  The  amount  of  the 
tax  was  3,140,000  francs.  The  average  cost  per  square 
meter  was  36  centimes  (7  cents)  per  annum. 

The  sweeping  force  is  divided  into  149  gangs.  In  the 
central  part  of  the  city  each  gang  consists  of  a  foreman, 
assistant  foreman,  and  20  to  25  men  or  women,  most  of 
whom  work  during  the  morning  at  the  necessary  sweep- 
ing and  assist  in  the  loading  of  the  wagons.  In  the 
afternoon  only  the  regular  route  men  are  at  work.  They 
keep  the  streets  in  order,  wash  the  gutters  and  urinals, 
care  for  markets,  etc.  Outside  of  the  center,  the  gangs 
consist  of  1  foreman,  4  route  men,  and  15  to  20  sweepers, 
the  last  usually  working  only  in  the  forenoon.  Work 
begins  at  4  a.  If.  all  the  year  round.  The  half-day  ends 
at  11  a.  If.,  and  the  full  day  at  4  p.  If.  The  entire  force 
consists  of  3200  regular  hands,  with  extra  men  for  emer- 
gencies. The  pay  is  by  the  hour,  the  men  receiving  32, 
34,  and  37  centimes,  and  the  women,  children,  and  old 


138 


STREET-CLEANING 


men,  25,  27,  and  30  centimes.  The  route  men  are  paid 
by  the  month— 120  to  125  francs  for  the  leaders,  and 
105  francs  for  the  ordinary  men.  Of  this  they  are  re- 
quired to  pay  5  francs  per  month  into  a  savings  fund, 
which  is  repaid  to  them  when  they  quit  the  service.  All 
men  regularly  employed  are  also  obliged  to  join  a  mutual 
benefit  society. 

The  workmen  of  the  street-cleaning  service  of  Paris 
are  not  uniformed,  and,  except  for  their  numbered  badges, 
they  are  not  to  be  distinguished  from  other  working-men. 
The  slouchy  and  often  faded  blue  or  black  blouse  so 
generally  worn  is  neither  distinctive  nor  attractive.  It 
is  comfortable,  cheap,  and  cheap-looking. 

Sweeping-machines  are  used  for  auxiliary  work  on 
paved  streets,  and  for  emergencies,  as  during  a  thaw, 
and  when  it  is  required  that  the  streets  should  be  cleaned 
rapidly  for  special  occasions. 

All  street-sprinkling  is  done  by  the  city  and  under  the 
direction  of  the  engineers  having  charge  of  the  cleaning. 
Sprinkling  costs  just  about  twice  as  much  per  square 
meter  for  macadam,  of  which  there  is  a  great  deal,  as 
for  pavement.  The  water-carts  weigh  when  empty  about 
1400  pounds,  and  when  full  about  4000  pounds,  with  the 
driver.  Where  water  is  conveniently  furnished  they  de- 
liver at  least  two  loads  per  hour.  The  sprinklers  cover 
a  width  of  about  16  feet,  and  one  load  suffices  for  800  to 
900  square  meters;  370  water-carts  are  now  used.  These 
belong  to  the  city,  which  hires  horses— one  to  each  cart 
—and  drivers  at  340  francs  ($68)  per  month. 

More  recently,  on  the  principal  streets,  much  use  is 
made  of  jointed  pipes  attached  to  hydrant-cocks  provided 
for  the  purpose.  This  apparatus  is  made  of  from  4  to 
6  pieces  of  pipe,  each  2  meters  long,  with  flexible  joints, 


IN  PARIS 


139 


and  running  on  small,  caster-like  trucks.  They  reach  to 
about  75  feet,  and  the  cocks  supplying  them  are  about 
150  feet  apart.  The  work  is  very  effective,  and  costs  only 
half  that  of  water-cart  work. 

On  asphalt  and  wood  much  use  is  made  of  the  squee- 
gee (a  rubber  scraper).  A  man  working  this  walks  at 
least  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  per  hour  and  covers  1200 
square  meters.  If  strong  and  skilful  he  may  cover  2000 
meters.  There  is  still  a  good  deal  of  work  done  in  a 
much  more  primitive  and  antiquated  way.  Water  is  set 
running  in  the  gutters,  and  is  dammed  here  and  there 
by  a  bunch  of  untidy-looking  old  rags.  The  workman 
throws  this  water  with  a  common  scoop  over  the  sidewalk 
and  into  the  street.  This  does  very  well  for  washing 
sidewalks  in  conjunction  with  the  squeegee,  but  its  use 
is  certainly  not  to  be  commended  on  the  score  either  of 
tidiness  or  of  economy.  All  pavements  are  sprinkled 
before  sweeping  if  the  weather  is  dry.  If  the  streets  are 
slimy  from  light  rains  the  squeegee  is  used.  Unless 
there  is  much  mud  or  horse-manure,  machines  are  not 
needed.  When  the  machine  is  used,  in  wet  weather  or 
in  dry,  the  stroke  is  gathered  together  with  a  common 
birch  broom  such  as  is  used  in  Budapest  and  almost  uni- 
versally in  European  towns.  The  sweeping-machines 
used  cover  6000  square  meters  per  hour. 

It  is  stated  in  the  official  report  that  what  cannot  be 
taken  up  is  washed  into  the  sewers,  and  that  where  there 
is  much  sand  they  save  what  they  can  of  it  for  resanding 
the  streets  when  slippery.  To  the  ordinary  observer  it 
seems  that  they  wash  into  the  sewers  all  that  can  be  got 
rid  of  in  that  way,  and  the  accounts  given  of  the  amount 
of  deposit  regularly  cleaned  from  the  sewers  would  in- 
dicate that  this  method  is  carried  to  excess.    It  leads 


140 


STREET-CLEANING 


to  the  conclusion,  which  my  earlier  observation  in  other 
directions  has  indicated  to  be  correct,  that  the  sewers  of 
Paris  are  many  of  them  as  dirty  as  the  streets  are  clean. 

In  dry  weather  wood  pavements  are  washed  daily,  as- 
phalt every  two  days,  and  stone  and  macadam  every  three 
days.    This  washing  is  done  between  4  and  8  A.  M. 

The  order  of  work  is  as  follows:  From  4  to  6:30  A.  M., 
sweeping  and  washing  of  sidewalks  and  streets,  washing 
and  disinfecting  places  soiled  by  urine,  and  cleaning 
public  urinals;  6: 30  to  8: 30,  assisting  the  wagons  in  tak- 
ing up  house  wastes  and  general  sweepings;  8:30  to  11, 
gathering  droppings,  washing  gutters,  sprinkling  streets, 
cleaning  and  disinfecting  urinals;  11  to  1,  midday  meal. 
This  may  be  advanced  to  10  o'clock,  or  put  off  till  12,  if 
the  exigencies  of  the  work  require  it.  Sometimes  only 
one  hour  is  allowed  for  the  meal.  In  very  hot  weather 
the  sprinkling  is  continued  through  this  noon  rest,  the 
men  taking  turns,  but  each  being  allowed  one  hour  for 
his  repast.  From  1  to  4  the  same  work  as  from  8: 30  to 
11;  from  4  to  7  this  work  is  continued  in  case  of  neces- 
sity; from  7  to  9  P.  M.,  during  the  five  winter  months, 
continuing  the  occasional  sanding  of  asphalt  and  wood 
which  has  gone  on  during  the  day.  This  is  supplemental 
work,  and  the  men  do  it  by  turns.  The  work  about  the 
markets  continues  from  7  A.  M.  to  9  P.  M.,  at  intervals, 
and  as  it  can  be  done  without  interfering  with  the  opera- 
tions of  the  market-men.  It  includes  the  disinfection  of 
all  places  soiled,  as  by  cleaning  fish,  etc. 

The  official  report  of  public  works  says:  "The  streets 
are  sanded  as  many  times  during  the  day  as  is  necessary 
to  prevent  the  surface  from  becoming  slippery.  This  is 
one  of  the  operations  of  which  the  performance  should 
never  be  delayed." 


IN  PARIS 


141 


The  garbage  and  other  household  refuse,  as  well  as 
the  sweepings  of  the  streets,  are  taken  up  by  the  wagons 
between  6  and  8:30  A.  If.  in  summer  and  between  7  and 
9  in  winter.  Garbage  was  formerly  placed  at  the  edge 
of  the  sidewalks.  This  led  to  a  very  untidy  condition 
from  the  scattering  of  the  material  by  rag-pickers  and 
others,  and  accidents  resulted  from  the  falling  of  broken 
bottles,  pottery,  etc.,  into  the  streets.  To  avoid  this, 
owners  are  now  obliged  to  provide  for  their  tenants,  from 
9  P.  M.  until  morning,  one  or  more  receptacles  for  all 
household  wastes.  These  are  set  out  at  least  an  hour 
before  the  time  for  collection,  and  are  taken  in  immedi- 
ately after  collection.  They  have  to  be  kept  in  a  sound 
and  cleanly  condition,  and  they  can  receive  nothing  but 
household  wastes. 

Every  three  years  bids  are  received  for  the  work  of 
collection,  the  contractor  becoming  the  owner  of  all  that 
he  collects.  Formerly  this  resulted  in  a  profit  to  the 
city— that  is,  the  material  was  worth  more  than  the  cost 
of  removal.  Then  for  a  time  the  value  was  about  equal 
to  the  cost.  At  present  the  city  pays  for  its  removal 
over  2,000,000  francs  per  annum.  One  reason  for  this 
change  of  condition  is  that  there  is  now  a  smaller  num- 
ber of  subcontractors,  such  as  the  market-gardeners, 
who  used  to  occupy  lands  now  covered  with  buildings, 
and  who  aided  the  city  contractors  in  their  work  and 
paid  something  for  what  they  collected;  another  is  the 
greater  distance  to  which  it  is  necessary  to  cart  all 
refuse,  because  of  the  growth  of  the  city,  and  especially 
because  the  authorities  of  suburban  districts  have  be- 
come more  severe  in  their  requirements  as  to  the  deposit 
of  waste  materials.  These  conditions  have  also  led  to 
an  increased  cost  of  the  material  as  delivered  to  farmers, 


142 


STREET-CLEANING 


so  that  these  now  prefer  to  buy  stable  manure.  For 
purposes  of  removal  the  city  is  divided  into  sections,  for 
which  special  rates  of  payment  are  tabulated.  Selected 
and  well-known  contractors  bid  for  each  section— so 
much  more  or  less  than  the  fixed  tariff.  They  are  re- 
quired to  take  all  refuse  from  houses,  restaurants,  bar- 
racks, etc.,  to  remove  street-sweepings,  including  fallen 
leaves,  all  market  refuse,  and  such  spoiled  food-supplies 
as  are  seized  for  bad  condition.  The  contractor  himself 
chooses  the  route  for  the  working  of  the  different  wagons 
in  his  section,  but  this  is  subject  to  the  control  of  the 
engineer,  with  a  view  to  the  prevention  of  overloading, 
interference  with  traffic,  and  too  early  hours  for  the  com- 
fort of  people  who  are  not  early  astir.  These  routes 
cannot  be  changed  without  the  approval  of  the  authori- 
ties. In  regulating  them  the  contractor  arranges  for  a 
certain  amount  of  work  to  be  done  by  farmers'  wagons 
at  convenient  hours  and  places.  The  contractor's  vehi- 
cles are  generally  large,  with  broad  tires  for  country 
travel.  They  have  a  hoisting  apparatus  for  loading,  and 
are  served  by  two  men. 

The  coming  of  the  wagon  to  remove  household  refuse 
is  announced  by  the  ringing  of  a  specified  bell.  It  is  re- 
quired that  all  wagons  be  kept  painted  and  thoroughly 
disinfected,  and  the  administration  has  control  over  the 
men  as  well  as  the  vehicles.  The  city  provides  three 
men  or  women  during  the  two  hours  of  collection  to  as- 
sist in  loading  each  wagon.  If  receptacles  are  roughly 
handled  and  injured,  the  employee  is  held  responsible, 
and  is  obliged  to  pay  for  repairing  or  replacing  them. 

The  contract  for  the  removal  of  refuse  includes  an 
obligation  to  furnish  teams  for  sweeping-machines  and 
water-carts  at  a  fixed  tariff.    In  case  of  need,  the  otm- 


IX  PARIS 


143 


tractor  must  help  in  the  removal  of  snow  and  ice.  The 
contractor  must  present  himself  daily,  at  a  fixed  hour, 
at  the  engineer's  office  for  instructions,  and  he  is  obliged 
to  keep  his  own  office  open  from  8  A.  M.  to  4  P.  M.  and  to 
maintain  telephonic  connection  there. 

A  two-horse-wagon  service,  including  the  collection  of 
house  wastes  and  sweepings,— that  is,  including  every- 
thing that  is  to  be  carted  away,— serves  an  average  popu- 
lation of  about  3500.  Each  wagon  costs  the  city,  on  an 
average,  from  10  to  11  francs  per  day. 

No  comparison  can  be  made  as  to  the  cost  of  carting 
in  Paris  and  New  York.  The  French  are  less  wasteful 
than  we  are,  and  household  refuse  consequently  amounts 
to  less;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  to  remove  every- 
thing, while  a  very  large  part  of  the  street-sweepings  of 
Paris  is  run  into  the  sewers. 

There  is  one  curious  thing  about  the  collection  of  the 
materials  in  Paris:  that  is,  that  the  rag-pickers  seem  to 
be  under  the  special  protection  of  the  government,  and 
are  allowed  full  swing  at  the  receptacles  as  they  stand 
on  the  sidewalks,  and  even  on  the  wagons  as  they  are 
being  loaded.  What  we  call  "  scow-trimming,"  for  which 
the  city  of  New  York  receives  a  large  sum,  is  thus  aban- 
doned to  individual  enterprise,  and  is  carried  on  at  the 
source  of  supply  rather  than  at  the  point  of  dumping. 

Efforts  thus  far  made  in  Paris  to  utilize  garbage  have 
resulted  in  loss.  It  was  thought  that  the  shells  of  mus- 
sels and  oysters  might  be  converted  into  a  manure;  but 
this  scheme  has  been  given  up,  and  they  are  now  dumped 
into  abandoned  quarries  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city. 

The  question  of  distant  transportation  of  the  city's 
wastes,  by  water  or  by  rail,  has  been  carefully  investi- 
gated, and  the  outlook  is  not  promising.    Water  trans- 


144 


STREET-CLEANING 


portation  means  a  difficulty  from  droughts,  which  may 
interfere  with  it  for  weeks  together,  from  floods,  which 
are  often  serious,  and  from  the  freezing  of  the  water- 
ways. This  method  is  therefore  unavailable,  because  it 
is  not  reliable  for  the  daily  use  which  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Delivery  by  rail  has  thus  far  been  found  too  ex- 
pensive. In  order  to  reach  lands  poor  enough  to  make 
matters  of  this  kind  of  value,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
go  so  far  as  to  make  the  lowest  possible  rate  of  freight 
prohibitory.  The  question  has  been  mooted  of  estab- 
lishing a  model  farm  for  the  city,  on  which  to  demon- 
strate the  value  of  the  wastes. 

Incineration  has  also  been  considered;  but  it  was  found 
that  the  original  investment  for  buildings  and  machinery 
would  amount  to  6,000,000  francs,  and  that  there  would 
be  the  embarrassment  that,  while  the  material  is  col- 
lected in  two  hours  in  the  morning,  economical  working 
would  require  the  incineration  to  be  continued  uninter- 
ruptedly day  and  night.  The  whole  question  is  still  open, 
and  it  is  an  extremely  knotty  one.  Everything  points  to 
a  steady  and  large  increase  of  the  cost  of  final  disposition, 
whatever  method  may  be  resorted  to. 

Neither  in  street-cleaning,  in  the  removal  of  household 
wastes,  nor  in  final  disposition  did  I  find  any  suggestions 
which  would  be  of  use  in  New  York,  save  as  to  the  value 
of  the  salable  refuse. 

Until  ind  including  the  winter  of  1879-80  the  removal 
of  snow  and  ice  was  carried  on  according  to  regulations 
promulgated  by  the  Prefet  de  la  Seine,  which  determined 
the  obligations  of  property-owners  and  of  the  adminis- 
tration. These  are  still  in  force,  at  least  with  regard 
to  the  duty  of  owners,  who  have  to  clear  their  sidewalks 
of  snow,  putting  it  into  the  street  or  in  banks  on  the 


IN  PARIS 


145 


walk  itself;  to  break  the  ice  in  the  gutters;  to  spread 
sand,  ashes,  or  cinders  on  frozen  surfaces;  and  finally,  in 
certain  cases,— but  only  on  the  formal  requisition  of  the 
administration,  — to  pile  the  snow  of  the  street  itself. 

At  the  beginning  of  each  winter  printed  notices  are 
served  on  all  owners,  reminding  them  of  their  obligations. 
It  is  to  be  admitted,  however,  that  their  concurrence  is 
secured  only  with  difficulty;  it  is  often  necessary  to  call 
in  the  aid  of  the  police,  to  bring  many  suits  at  law,  and 
to  enforce  judgment  in  a  great  number  of  cases.  This 
complicates  the  work  of  the  administration  when  all  its 
energies  are  needed  for  the  work  on  the  streets.  It  is 
especially  prohibited  to  deposit  on  the  public  thorough- 
fare any  snow  from  roofs  or  from  inner  courtyards. 
There  is  published  each  year  a  list  of  places  to  which 
this  snow  may  be  carried. 

Up  to  the  date  named  the  administration  provided  for 
the  clearing  of  the  streets  with  the  ordinary  force  of 
street-cleaners,  supplemented  by  numerous  auxiliary 
workmen,  by  the  fifty  wagons  which  the  omnibus  com- 
pany is  required  by  the  terms  of  its  franchise  to  furnish, 
and  by  the  teams  which  the  city  has  the  right  to  exact 
from  the  contractors  who  remove  street-sweepings  and 
house  wastes.  As  all  these  resources  were  insufficient, 
contracts  were  at  the  beginning  of  the  season  made  with 
private  persons  to  furnish  a  certain  number  of  wagons 
by  the  day.  The  city  had  no  apparatus  useful  for  snow 
work  other  than  its  sweeping-machines.  The  use  of  salt 
had  not  yet  been  seriously  tried. 

This  organization  had  nearly  always  sufficed,  because 
in  Paris  snow  seldom  lasts  more  than  a  few  days,  and 
thaws  rapidly.  But  the  experience  of  1879-80  demon- 
strated that  when  much  snow  fell  and  the  cold  continued 


146 


STREET-CLEANING 


the  usual  methods  were  absolutely  ineffective.  As  a  con- 
sequence, new  regulations  were  made,  which  have  worked 
well.    These  were: 

1.  The  organization  of  the  entire  force  early  in  the 
season  by  defined  areas,  so  that  the  foremen  and  the  men 
should  know  just  what  they  were  to  do  at  the  beginning 
of  a  storm,  and  so  that,  without  waiting  for  further 
orders,  they  should  betake  themselves  immediately  to 
their  posts. 

2.  Fixing  the  order  of  operations  for  removing  snow 
from  the  streets  according  to  their  importance. 

3.  The  use  of  mechanical  aids  to  hasten  the  removal, 
and  the  application  of  salt  to  hasten  the  melting,  of  the 
snow. 

4.  Dumping  the  snow  into  the  river  and  discharging 
it  into  sewers. 

5.  The  extensive  cooperation  of  private  enterprise,  by 
turning  over  to  contractors  a  portion  of  the  hand-work 
and  of  the  carting. 

In  time  of  snow  all  of  the  personnel  of  the  Street- 
Cleaning  Department  is  employed  for  its  removal.  Each 
gang  has  its  appointed  rendezvous,  its  sand,  its  salt,  and 
its  prescribed  place  of  discharge. 

The  streets  are  divided  into  three  general  categories: 
(1)  wide  streets,  where  the  snow  is  piled  in  two  rows, 
leaving  a  central  space  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet 
wide,  provisionally;  it  is  to  be  widened  if  time. permits, 
either  by  piling  the  snow  upon  the  sidewalks  or  by  put- 
ting it  all  in  one  row;  (2)  narrow  and  crowded  streets, 
from  which  the  snow  must  be  entirely  removed;  and  (3) 
streets  where  it  is  to  be  piled  in  a  single  row  to  remain 
until  it  melts. 

The  sweeping-machines  are  provided  with  special 


IX  PARIS 


147 


brooms,— prepared  in  advance,— which  have  steel  wires 
mixed  in  with  the  ordinary  piassava.  These  can  be  sub- 
stituted very  quickly  for  the  common  broom.  This  system 
has  the  great  advantage  that  it  allows  the  use  of  a  ma- 
chine which  is  known  to  all  and  which  is  made  ready  for 
snow  work  in  a  moment.  An  extra  horse  is  required. 
A  rude  sort  of  snow-plow  is  used  to  make  the  first  open- 
ing in  the  middle  of  the  street. 

The  use  of  salt  for  melting  the  snow  is  carried  to  a 
considerable  extent.  Pure,  fine  salt  for  this  purpose  is 
delivered  at  the  railway-stations  at  about  six  dollars 
per  gross  ton— the  state  and  city  taxes,  which  amount 
to  thirty-two  dollars,  being  remitted.  It  was  first  used 
on  a  large  scale  in  1880.  It  produces  a  dark-colored 
slush,  with  a  temperature  of  about  10°  F.,  which  will  not 
freeze  unless  the  thermometer  falls  below  this  degree. 
When  it  does  not  interfere  too  much  with  traffic  in  the 
streets  it  is  often  left  in  pPce  for  several  days,  because 
it  does  not  freeze  and  is  to  a  considerable  extent  a  pre- 
ventive of  slipping.  If  it  becomes  too  thick  it  is  removed 
with  scrapers  or  with  sweeping-machines.  "Another 
property  that  is  much  appreciated  in  the  use  of  salt  in 
Paris  is  that  it  is  the  more  rapid  the  more  active  the 
traffic;  on  streets  of  great  travel  the  snow  of  the  salted 
surface  is  reduced  to  mud  in  two  hours." 

The  salt  is  spread  from  wheelbarrows  by  the  shovel, 
and  does  not  need  to  be  very  uniform.  It  is  estimated 
that  to  melt  packed  snow  to  a  depth  of  from  one  inch 
and  a  half  to  two  inches  about  five  ounces  of  salt  are 
required  per  square  yard.  If  the  snow  (packed)  is  six  or 
eight  inches  deep,  a  surface  layer  is  first  melted  and  re- 
moved, and  the  lower  layer  is  salted  in  turn.  So  far  as 
the  very  complete  official  report  is  concerned,  no  account 


148 


STREET-CLEANING 


is  taken  of  the  effect  of  the  salt-and-snow  mixture  on  the 
health  of  the  people,  which  is  here  thought  to  be  serious. 

From  those  parts  of  the  city  which  are  conveniently 
near  the  snow  is  dumped  into  the  Seine,  either  at  the 
landings  or  through  openings  in  the  parapet  walls,  which 
are  closed  after  the  winter  weather  is  over.  For  remoter 
districts  the  sewer-openings  are  used  as  much  as  possible. 
Special  snow-openings  are  made  in  the  larger  sewers. 
As  much  water  as  possible  is  run  into  them,  and  men 
standing  on  the  banquettes  of  the  sewers  push  the  snow 
forward.  There  are  used  for  the  snow  service  512  ordi- 
nary manholes  and  121  special  snow-openings. 

As  above  stated,  before  1880  the  removal  of  snow  was 
carried  on  by  the  city  alone,  with  its  own  forces  and 
thousands  of  workmen  hired  for  the  occasion.  These  it 
had  to  supply  with  tools,  and  it  had  to  arrange  for  their 
regular  and  frequent  payment.  From  lack  of  organiza- 
tion and  discipline  these  men  did  slow  work,  and  they 
were  all  the  more  ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  situa- 
tion because  they  were  working  for  the  public.  It  was 
therefore  determined,  following  the  custom  in  other 
European  cities,  to  let  out  portions  of  the  work  to  con- 
tractors. The  city  was  divided  into  sections,  well  regu- 
lated as  to  convenience  of  carting  and  dumping,  and  a 
price  was  fixed  per  cubic  meter  for  loading  and  removal. 
The  administration,  with  its  own  men  and  machines,  piles 
the  snow  in  rows,  and  the  contractors  cart  it  away.  This 
division  of  the  work  has  been  very  satisfactory,  especially 
with  regard  to  rapidity  of  handling. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  certain  work  beyond  their 
contract  obligations  is  done  by  the  omnibus  and  tramway 
companies,  the  city  furnishing  them  sweeping-machines 
and  scrapers,  which  they  operate  with  their  own  teams. 


IN  PARIS 


1  19 


The  order  of  work  is  as  follows:  If  snow  falls  in  the 
daytime,  the  workmen,  without  waiting  for  it  to  stop, 
use  their  brooms,  shovels,  and  hand-scrapers  to  move  it 
toward  the  sides  of  the  streets  and  from  sidewalks  in 
front  of  public  property.  House-owners  do  the  same  for 
their  walks,  urged  thereto  by  the  authorities.  In  this 
way  the  effort  is  made  immediately  to  clear  a  sufficient 
width  for  foot-passengers  and  for  vehicles. 

Efforts  are  especially  concentrated  on  streets  of  the 
first  importance.  If  at  the  time  of  beginning  work  the 
snow  is  as  much  as  four  inches  deep,  so  that  it  cannot 
be  moved  by  hand,  then  the  sweeping-machines  are  used 
for  the  middle  of  the  carriageway,  and  the  snow  is  piled 
in  rows  by  the  men. 

If  the  morning  finds  a  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches, 
the  horse  snow-plows  (or  side-scrapers)  are  used  to  open 
a  width  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet.  These  are 
followed  by  sweeping-machines.  If  these  means  do  not 
suffice  to  bare  the  pavement,  or  when  travel  has  packed 
the  snow  almost  to  the  consistency  of  ice,  it  is  heavily 
sanded  or  is  treated  with  salt  to  melt  it.  Freedom  of 
circulation  being  thus  assured,  the  carting  is  begun,  and 
the  men  are  sent  to  clear  the  streets  of  the  second  class, 
and  the  snow  is  carted  from  them.  If  a  thaw  has  not 
set  in  by  this  time,  the  streets  of  the  third  class  are 
cleared  in  their  turn. 

As  soon  as  a  thaw  begins,  nearly  all  the  contract  cart- 
ing is  suspended,  and  the  hydrants  are  opened;  all  the 
sweeping-machines  are  set  at  work,  the  slush  is  pushed 
toward  the  sewer  inlets,  "  and  in  a  short  time  the  city 
has  taken  on  its  usual  aspect." 

The  foregoing  has  been  gleaned  from  the  official  reports 
of  the  " Directions  of  Works"  of  the  Department  of  the 


150 


STREET-CLEANING 


Seine.  It  is  written  after  nearly  two  weeks'  struggle 
with  the  very  heavy  and  badly  drifted  snow  of  December 
15,  and  when  the  banks  and  piles  of  snow  in  three  quar- 
ters of  the  streets  of  New  York  are  frozen  solid.  I  have 
tried  in  vain  to  find  a  way  in  which  the  Paris  prescription 
could  have  been  made  to  give  us  relief. 


LONDON 

London  is  the  most  unsatisfactory  town  imaginable  as 
a  place  in  which  to  study  municipal  administration.  It 
is  an  agglomeration  of  separate  communities. 

The  "Couaity  Council,"  which  controls  the  whole  area 
in  a  general  way  and  for  some  specific  purposes,  has  no 
voice  in  the  direction  of  local  affairs,  beyond  establishing 
standards  below  which  local  work  must  not  fall. 

The  "City"  of  London  occupies  a  central  area  cover- 
ing only  one  square  mile  in  the  heart  of  the  town.  It 
has  a  night  population  of  only  about  37,000,  but  its  day 
population  is  about  eight  times  as  large,  while  more  than 
a  million  persons  enter  it  on  every  week-day,  and  its 
street  traffic  is  enormous,  nearly  a  hundred  thousand 
carriages  entering  it  daily.  Surrounding  this  on  all  sides 
are  some  forty  independent  parishes  and  districts,  each 
with  its  own  local  vestry  or  board,  which  directs  all  its 
local  municipal  affairs.  The  entire  population  of  London 
is  not  far  from  five  millions.  There  is  no  conspicuous 
dividing-line  between  the  parishes;  it  is  one  great,  solidly 
built  town,  with  much  uniformity  of  appearance.  It  is 
only  when  one  attempts  to  study  its  methods  of  public 
work  that  its  composite  character  appears. 


IN  LONDON 


151 


The  methods  followed  in  the  City  are  in  a  general  way 
a  type  of  the  whole— varied  in  almost  every  case  in  minor 
details,  to  learn  all  of  which  would  result  in  little  valu- 
able addition  to  common  knowledge  of  street-cleaning 
operations.  I  shall  therefore  confine  my  remarks  mainly 
to  what  is  done  in  the  City.  The  work  here  is  under  the 
control  of  the  Commissioners  of  Sewers,  whose  engineer 
directs  it.  It  includes  street-cleaning,  street-watering 
and  washing,  dusting,  and  removal  of  trade  refuse.  The 
force  employed  in  1896  consisted  of  200  men,  180  boys, 
and  99  horses.  There  were  used  79  vans,  16  water- 
wagons,  with  sweeping-machines,  etc. 

The  arrangement  of  the  work  is  as  follows:  All  of  the 
streets  are  swept  daily,  and  in  hot  weather  the  main 
thoroughfares  are  squeegeed  two  or  three  times  a  day. 
The  boys  constituting  the  "  street-orderly  "  system  work 
on  all  the  main  streets  and  on  some  of  the  secondary 
ones.  These  active  youngsters  with  their  pans  and 
brushes  gather  up  the  horse-droppings  almost  as  they 
fall,  emptying  them  into  boxes  fixed  for  the  purpose  at 
the  edge  of  the  sidewalk.  They  begin  work  at  7: 30  a.  iff., 
and  cease  at  4:80  P.  Iff.  in  winter,  and  at  5  p.  m.  in  sum- 
mer. On  the  more  important  streets  they  are  kept  at 
work  three  hours  later,  with  excellent  effect.  The 
sweeping,  by  hand  and  with  machines,  is  done  entirely 
at  night,  after  eight  o'clock,  when  carriage  traffic  is  , 
nearly  over.  It  continues  until  eight  or  nine  in  the 
morning.  The  streets  are  thus  subjected  to  almost  con- 
tinuous hand-cleansing.  In  addition  to  this,  when  the 
weather  is  suitable,  and  when  it  is  useful  to  do  so,  they 
are  washed  with  the  hose  and  jet.  This  must  always  be 
done  late  at  night,  when  nearly  all  carriage  traffic  has 
ceased. 


152 


STREET-CLEANING 


The  courts  and  alleys  occupied  by  the  poorer  classes 
are  cleaned  every  day  by  the  manual  forces,  and  from 
April  to  October  they  are  washed  two  or  three  times 
a  week.  Some  places  are  washed  nearly  every  night 
throughout  the  year.  About  25,000,000  U.  S.  gallons  of 
water  are  used  in  this  wTay. 

The  sidewalks  are  swept  as  occasion  requires,  and  in 
hot  weather  they  are  cleaned  with  squeegees  in  the  day- 
time. The  collection  of  street-sweepings,  refuse,  and 
rubbish  is  very  large,  and  is  increasing,  as  is  the  cost  of 
the  work.  In  1895  there  were  collected  30,812  loads  of 
"  street-sweepings  and  slop,"  and  41,821  loads  of  house 
and  trade  refuse.  The  total  removal  of  the  year  averages 
233  loads  per  day  for  six  days  in  the  week.  The  engineer 
reports,  with  regard  to  trade  refuse,  that  the  habit  of 
throwing  it  "into  the  dust-bins  or  other  receptacles 
which  should  be  used  only  for  the  ashes  and  ordinary 
house  refuse  appears  to  be  much  on  the  increase;  and  if 
this  continues  it  must  add  largely  to  the  cost  of  collec- 
tion and  the  difficulty  of  getting  rid  of  it  when  collected. 
It  never  was  contemplated  that  the  commission  should 
remove  trade  refuse  without  being  adequately  paid  for 
it.  To  do  so  is  to  benefit  particular  traders  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  citizens  generally." 

I  ask  for  this  quotation  the  very  thoughtful  attention 
of  those  "traders"  in  New  York  who  feel  themselves 
greatly  aggrieved  if  the  city  ash-carts  are  even  slow  or 
irregular  in  removing  the  refuse  of  their  business.  The 
complainers  are  always  "  taxpayers,"  but  they  seem  to 
disregard  the  right  of  their  fellow-citizens  not  to  have 
their  taxes  saddled  with  the  cost  of  other  men's  business 
processes. 

The  collections  of  all  kinds  are  taken  to  a  wharf  on 


IN  LONDON 


153 


the  south  side  of  the  Thames,  where  they  are  roughly 
sorted.  What  is  valuable  as  manure  is  boated  away  to 
the  country.  All  else,  after  the  salable  refuse  is  culled 
out,  is  shot  into  a  "  destructor,"  or  cremator.  This  ap- 
paratus works  day  and  night  throughout  the  year,  save 
for  from  fifteen  to  twenty  days,  when  it  is  stopped  for  re- 
pairs and  cleaning.  By  the  last  report,  it  destroyed  in 
the  year  23,117  loads  (GG  loads  per  day),  leaving  about  22| 
per  cent,  of  "  ashes  and  clinkers,  more  or  less  hard,  but 
valueless,  and  for  the  removal  of  which  the  commission 
had  to  pay." 

As  is  the  case  in  so  many  other  places,  the  question  of 
final  disposition  is  engaging  the  very  serious  attention  of 
the  authorities.  In  competition  with  concentrated  fer- 
tilizers, street  manure  will  not  bear  distant  transporta- 
tion. As  populations  grow  larger  the  increasing  output 
adds  to  the  difficulty,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  escape 
from  the  requirement  for  the  conversion  of  the  material 
into  an  inoffensive  product,  by  an  inoffensive  process, 
within  a  practicable  distance  of  the  point  of  production. 

English  opinion  seems  to  have  become  fixed  on  crema- 
tion as  the  only  adequate  means  of  relief.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  not  yet  shown  that  cremation  can  be  carried 
on  without  giving  rise  to  nuisance,  or  at  least  to  annoy- 
ance. Mr.  Codrington,  engineering  inspector  of  the 
Local  Government  Board,  in  his  report  of  1888  as  to 
twenty  depots  at  which  destructors  had  been  erected, 
said,  "  Experience  has  shown  that  town  refuse  can  be 
effectually  burned  in  destructors  and  other  furnaces 
without  causing  nuisance  or  offense  at  or  about  the 
works  themselves";  but  he  adds  that  complaints  are  re- 
ceived of  "fine  dust  and  sometimes  of  charred  paper 
proceeding  from  the  chimney  and  falling  at  some  little 


154 


STREET-CLEANING 


distance  off,"  also  of  "an  offensive  smell,  which,  under 
certain  conditions  of  the  atmosphere,  can  be  recognized 
at  some  distance  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  chimney." 
If  the  chimney  is  built  high  enough  to  protect  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood  the  annoyance  is  only  carried  to  more 
distant  points.  The  only  thing  that  is  clear  about  the 
whole  matter  is  that  municipalities  will  have  to  face  a 
greatly  increased  outlay  to  protect  the  people  against 
the  results  of  the  increased  production  of  wastes  which 
must  be  got  rid  of,  and  the  cost  of  whose  disposal  ad- 
vances in  progressive  ratio  as  the  material  to  be  dealt 
with  grows  greater. 

In  1893  the  medical  officer  and  the  engineer  of  the 
London  County  Council  made  a  report  on  "  dust-destruc- 
tors"— " dust"  being  the  English  for  all  manner  of 
household  wastes.  It  was  calculated  that  the  yearly 
quantity  collected  amounts  to  "  about  260  tons  per  1000 
of  the  population."  This  would  be  about  1,300,000  tons 
for  all  London,  or  about  580  pounds  for  each  person.* 

The  analysis  of  the  material  shows  that  it  contains 
about  eight  per  cent,  (or  104,000  tons)  of  what  would  be 
salable  in  New  York,  including  paper,  bottles,  broken 
glass,  tin  cans,  bones,  rags,  and  metals.  No  account  is 
here  made  of  wood,  rubber  shoes,  leather  shoes,  hats, 
corks,  strings,  and  some  other  trifles  which  are  culled  for 
sale  by  the  scow-trimmers  of  New  York. 

At  depots  where  cremation  is  not  in  use  the  method  of 
handling  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  described  by  Dr. 
Ballard  in  his  report  to  the  medical  officer  of  the  Local 
Government  Board  in  1878,  which  is  briefly  as  follows: 

The  dust  is  dumped  in  the  yard,  where  men  and  boys 

*  The  annual  output  in  New  York  is  not  far  from  1250  pounds  per 
person. 


IN  LONDON 


155 


proceed  to  sort  it,  dragging  the  heap  over  with  forks  and 
rakes,  collecting  the  bones,  rags,  etc.  These  are  assorted 
into  heaps  and  baskets.  What  is  left  is  sifted  to  recover 
the  bits  of  unburned  coal.  "The  sifting  is  performed 
usually  by  women,  who  sit  on  or  close  to  the  heaps,  having 
one  or  more  baskets  by  their  side  and  a  riddle  in  their 
hands.  A  shovelful  from  the  heap  is  shaken  in  the 
riddle,  and  the  ashes  and  dust  having  passed  through, 
what  remains  on  the  riddle  is  examined,  and  bones, 
potatoes,  bits  of  iron,  etc.,  not  removed  by  the  first 
dragging  process  are  picked  out."  The  coal  and  coke  are 
thrown  on  a  separate  heap.  He  says:  "The  sorting  pro- 
cess is  a  degrading  occupation.  The  women  employed 
are  often  seen  covered  almost  to  the  waist  with  refuse, 
and  they  continually  inhale  into  their  lungs  air  polluted 
by  the  surrounding  accumulations  of  dust."  Large  heaps 
of  material  are  almost  always  to  be  found  in  the  con- 
tractors' yard<?.  The  removal  by  barge,  on  which  London 
is  so  dependent,  is  often  interrupted  by  ice;  the  cargoes 
taint  the  air  along  the  banks  of  the  canals;  and  even 
when  they  reach  their  destination,  the  question  of  ren- 
dering them  innocuous  is  still  unanswered.  The  natural 
solution  is  to  shoot  the  stuff  "  in  some  sparsely  inhabited 
district  where  public  opinion  is  not  strong  enough  effec- 
tually to  resent  its  being  deposited."  This  was  written 
nearly  twenty  years  ago,  and  the  case  has  grown  worse 
year  by  year. 

The  report  of  1893  says:  "The  merit  of  the  destructor 
is,  however,  in  a  sense  the  main  drawback  to  its  popu- 
larity. The  old  system  enjoys  the  great  advantage  that 
it  quickly  removes  all  cause  of  offense  from  general  view7, 
and  few  persons  trouble  themselves  about  the  railway- 
siding  or  the  canal  wharf  or  the  shoot  in  the  country. 


156 


STREET-CLEANING 


The  destructor,  if  it  is  to  establish  the  claim  that  it 
deals  with  the  refuse  from  the  outset,  must  be  situated 
near  inhabited  houses,  and  its  chimney  cannot  fail  to 
excite  attention.  Again,  if  the  destructor  causes  nui- 
sance, it  will  mainly  affect  those  living  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  it,  and  thus  it  excites  opposition,  not  of 
the  inhabitants  of  houses  in  the  poorer  districts,  which 
presumably  exist  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  depot,  but 
of  the  richer  and  much  more  critical  population  living 
half  a  mile  or  a  mile  away.  It  thus  happens  that,  while 
few  complaints  are  received  concerning  crude  forms  of 
furnace  with  short  chimney-shafts,  such  as  are  found  in 
many  dust-yards  and  are  used  sometimes  merely  for 
burning  paper,  sometimes  for  dealing  with  vegetable 
refuse  and  ordinary  house  dust,  considerable  objection  is 
made  to  much  more  perfect  appliances  furnished  with 
lofty  chimney-shafts."  The  final  conclusion  is  that  every 
appliance  should  be  of  the  best  and  should  be  carefully 
worked  and  managed,  "and  under  these  conditions  we 
think  that  the  destruction  of  refuse  by  fire  may  be 
effected  with  success  and  without  the  production  of 
nuisance." 

The  City  is  more  important  than  any  other  single  dis- 
trict of  London;  but  it  will  not  be  without  interest  to 
refer  briefly  to  the  parish  of  Paddington,  which  has  its 
disposal-works  on  the  basin  of  a  canal  connecting  with 
the  system  by  which  the  northern  part  of  London  is 
served,  and  whence  barges  are  sent  into  the  country. 

Paddington  wharf  was  suggested  to  me  as  a  good  point 
to  visit,  because  it  has  not  only  the  depot  of  the  parish 
itself,  but  also  the  works  of  two  contractors  who  clean 
the  parishes  of  St.  George  (Hanover  Square),  St.  James, 
and  Marylebone.    Simple  machinery,  supplemented  by 


/\Y  LOXDOX 


157 


hand-labor,  is  used  in  the  sorting.  At  the  Paddington 
depot,  which  is  well  paved  and  drained  and  well  kept, 
27  hands  are  employed,  about  half  of  the  number  being 
women.  The  work  is  carried  on  under  cover.  During 
the  year  (1895-96)  27,445  loads  of  dust  were  collected. 
The  weekly  range  of  loads  was  from  383  to  663.  There 
were  abstracted  from  this  313J  (gross)  tons  of  salable 
material,  as  follows:  coal,  9  tons;  bones,  55  tons;  rags, 
144  tons;  iron,  60  tons;  various  other  metals,  4 \  tons; 
white  glass,  14  tons;  colored  glass,  36  tons. 

The  scrapings  and  sweepings  from  the  streets  are  shot 
directly  into  the  boats.  "  Slop  "  from  wet  streets  goes 
first  into  a  sort  of  cage,  from  which  the  dirty  ooze  runs 
into  the  canal,  the  more  solid  residue  being  boated  awTay 
at  a  cost,  including  carting,  boating,  and  unloading,  of 
47  cents  per  ton. 

At  the  contractors'  wharves  the  same  conditions  pre- 
vail, but  there  was  rather  less  neatness  of  management. 
No  statistics  were  to  be  had  concerning  their  operations. 
They  are  under  control  of  the  vestry  as  to  matters  of 
nuisance. 

The  collection  of  dust  in  Paddington  was  until  recently 
made  only  when  a  card  with  the  letter  "  D  "  wTas  exposed 
in  the  window;  but  the  County  Council  nowT  enforces  a 
by-law  requiring  the  sanitary  authority  of  the  parish  to 
"  cause  to  be  removed  not  less  frequently  than  once  in  / 
every  week  the  house  refuse  produced  on  the  premises." 
The  medical  officer  says  that  the  system  appears  to  work 
very  satisfactorily,  but  at  an  increased  cost. 

The  street-cleaning  is  carried  out  by  gangs  of  sweep- 
ers, with  horse-machines  for  scraping  and  sweeping. 
Main  thoroughfares  and  important  streets  are  swept 
daily,  especially  those  paved  with  wood.    Other  streets 


158 


STREET-CLEANING 


of  less  traffic  are  swept  two  or  three  times  a  week. 
Slippery  pavements  are  sanded,  especially  in  frosty 
weather. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  streets  in  London  as 
to  cleanliness  is  much  the  same  as  that  in  New  York  so 
far  as  its  more  important  thoroughfares  are  concerned. 
There  is  about  the  same  amount  of  littering  with  paper 
and  other  refuse.  The  less  important  streets,  which  are 
swept  only  twice  or  thrice  a  week,  are  not  so  clean  as 
ours,  which  are  all  swept  at  least  once  every  day.  But 
the  pavement  of  London  is  much  better. 


BIRMINGHAM 

Birmingham  is  a  great,  fine,  dull,  humdrum  town,  with 
about  one  quarter  of  the  population  of  New  York.  So 
it  must  strike  the  visitor  who  comes  to  it  fresh  from  the 
greater  continental  cities  and  from  London.  To  the 
student  of  municipal  administration  it  reveals  a  perfec- 
tion of  system,  of  executive  completeness,  and  of  economy 
which,  if  his  standards  have  been  formed  in  America, 
is  simply  amazing.  It  is  well  kept  in  all  respects;  yet 
the  total  appropriation  for  its  Department  of  Public 
Works,  including  maintenance  and  all  repairs  of  road- 
ways, street-cleaning,  the  disposal  of  wastes,  the  care  of 
the  sewers,  flushing  and  street-sprinkling,  all  stable 
expenses,  including  renewal  of  plant  and  stock,  public 
lighting,  and  providing  and  maintaining  of  urinals,  etc., 
for  the  year  1896-97,  is,  after  crediting  certain  items  of 
income,  only  $503,000,  This  result  is  possible  only  be- 
cause of  the  perfect  business  management  of  all  city 


IN  BIRMINGHAM 


1.7.) 


affairs.  Such  economy  will  never  be  possible  here  so 
long  as  "  politics  "  has  anything  whatever  to  do  with  our 
municipal  administration.  Naturafty  the  lower  rate  of 
wages  in  England  accounts  for  much  of  the  saving;  but 
the  rate  there  is  only  about  fifty  per  cent,  less  than  it 
is  here,  and,  at  most,  the  payment  of  our  wages  would  not 
raise  the  total  outlay  as  above  to  more  than  $800,000. 

The  work  in  the  str  ets,  including  repairs  of  pavement 
and  macadam,  sweeping  and  removal  of  sweepings,  and 
all  sprinklings,  employs  about  400  men  (who  work  54 
hours  per  week)  and  about  160  horses.  The  gang-leaders 
are  paid  from  $6  to  $7  per  week,  drivers  get  from  $5.50 
to  $6,  and  sweepers,  $5.25.  Selected  men  of  this  force 
do  the  road-repairing,  being  paid,  in  addition  to  their 
regular  wages,  a  price  by  the  piece  for  this  work. 

There  are  about  250  miles  of  street,  of  which  about  40 
miles  are  swept  daily,  100  miles  thrice  a  week,  100  miles 
twice  a  week,  and  10  miles  once  a  week. 

There  is  one  chief  (road-surveyor)  over  the  whole 
work,  who  is  paid  $2500  per  year,  and  six  district  fore- 
men, who  get  nearly  $G00  per  year. 

Most  of  the  more  important  streets  are  paved  with 
wood.  This  becomes  very  slippery,  and  it  is  regularly 
sanded  with  a  crushed  "grit,"  having  some  fragments 
of  broken  quartz  or  flint  as  large  as  peas  and  hazelnuts. 
This  is  spread  from  a  cart  with  a  shovel,  and  the  men 
who  do  this  work  are  so  expert  that  they  can  make  an 
effective  covering  of  the  whole  street  (30  to  45  feet  wide) 
with  the  use  of  only  1  load  to  the  mile.  In  Fifth  Avenue, 
last  winter,  the  contractor  was  restricted  to  the  use  of  4 
loads  per  block,  which  would  be  80  loads  to  the  mile. 
There  is  no  record  of  the  amount  used,  but  there  is  a 
vivid  recollection  in  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning 


160 


STREET-CLEANING 


that  it  was  enormous.  Probably  the  day  is  not  distant 
when  we  shall  have  to  sand  at  least  our  asphalt  streets, 
and  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  the  quantity  of  sand 
used  need  not  constitute  an  embarrassment  to  the  work 
of  cleaning.  It  is  to  be  hoped,  too,  that  the  example  of 
Birmingham  may  be  heeded  by  the  managers  of  our 
street-railways,  which  are  now  sanded  with  a  wonder- 
fully lavish  hand. 

Birmingham  has  a  very  large  proportion  of  macada- 
mized roadway,  and  it  is  of  most  excellent  quality,  well 
made,  and  constantly  kept  in  repair.  The  work  is  done 
by  the  city's  own  force,  and  nothing  is  shirked.  In  minor 
streets  the  macadam  is  21  feet  wide.  It  is  4  inches 
higher  at  the  center  than  at  the  edges.  The  material  is 
20  inches  deep.  The  bed  is  graded  to  a  true  foim  and 
is  rolled.  The  bottom  layer,  8  inches  thick,  consists  of 
damp  ashes,  rolled.  On  this  is  placed  an  8-inch  layer  of 
gravel  or  broken  slag,  also  rolled.  Then  follows  a  cov- 
ering of  "  ragstone,"  or  granite  crushed  to  pass  through 
a  2j-inch  ring;  this  is  rolled  dry.  Next  comes  a  "  bind- 
ing "  of  crushed  grit,  which  is  rolled  in  wet,  but  not  too 
wet,  and  is  worked  into  the  stone  as  thoroughly  as  pos- 
sible. This  makes  a  capital  road,  which  is  easily  cleaned 
by  scraping,  and  by  sweeping  with  the  birch-broom. 

The  most  interesting  part  of  the  cleaning  work  of  this 
city  is  that  which  has  to  do  with  the  disposal  of  its 
wastes.  Only  about  one  half  of  its  population  is  supplied 
with  water-closets.  The  other  half  still  use  out-of-door 
"  conveniences."  These  are  supplied  with  "  pans,"  which 
are  regularly  removed.  There  are  about  36,000  of  these. 
They  are  cylindrical  in  shape,  18  inches  in  diameter,  and 
15  inches  deep.  Household  slops  are  not  emptied  into 
them.    The  pans  are  removed  once  a  week.    The  removal 


IN  BIRMINGHAM 


161 


is  at  night,  from  10  P.  If.  to  8  a.  If.  They  are  covered 
with  closely  fitting  covers,  and  are  carried  in  closed 
vans,  which  take  18  at  a  time,  and  which  have  a  recep- 
tacle at  the  tail  end  into  which  ash-tub  refuse  is  emptied. 
The  average  weight  of  a  van,  when  fully  loaded,  is  about 
8500  pounds. 

There  are  three  well-equipped  yards,  adjacent  to  canals, 
to  which  the  pans  are  taken.  One  of  these  I  visited. 
The  van  starts  out  from  the  yard  with  18  clean  pans, 
which  are  left  in  the  privies  from  which  the  used  ones 
are  removed.  On  returning  to  the  yard  the  pans  are 
emptied  into  tanks,  and  are  then  turned  over  to  the 
washers,  who  see  that  each  van  is  supplied  with  clean 
pans  to  take  out.  The  vans  make  from  three  to  five 
journeys  a  night.  This  collection  employs  61  horses  and 
122  men. 

For  the  collection  of  dry  refuse  from  shops  and  from 
houses  which  are  furnished  with  water-closets  (where 
no  pans  are  used)  33  horses  and  66  men  are  employed. 
This  work  is  done  in  the  daytime.  The  total  weight  of 
the  dry  refuse  collected  is  about  35,000  tons  per  year. 
In  the  emptying  of  ash-pits  on  private  premises,  of  which 
a  considerable  number  still  remain,  40  horses  and  74  men 
are  employed.  The  material  thus  collected  amounts  to 
about  50,000  tons  in  the  year.  Much  of  this  is  valueless 
as  manure,  less  than  20,000  tons  being  used. 

The  making  of  fertilizers  is  an  important  part  of  the 
work.  The  dry  refuse  is  screened  in  rotating  screens, 
which  separate  the  fine  ash  from  the  coarser  parts,  from 
which  tin  cans,  broken  crockery,  etc.,  are  picked  out  by 
hand.  Rags  are  not  saved.  Part  of  the  fine  ash  is  mixed 
as  an  absorbent  with  the  contents  of  the  pans,  and  is 
sold  as  manure,  being  run  from  the  mixing-machines 


162 


STREET-CLEANING 


directly  into  boats.  The  demand  for  this  is  decreasing, 
as  concentrated  fertilizers  are  gaining  in  favor  with 
farmers. 

The  combustible  material,  including  garbage,  is  burned 
in  destructors,  or  cremating-furnaces,  of  which  the  city 
has  about  50  in  operation.  The  heat  of  these  furnaces 
generates  steam,  which  is  used  to  evaporate  the  moisture 
of  the  pan  contents,  making  a  concentrated  manure,  and 
to  furnish  power  to  drive  the  mixing  machinery,  etc. 
The  refuse  passed  through  the  furnaces  is  reduced  to 
about  thirty  per  cent,  of  its  original  weight.  The  clinker 
produced  is  employed  for  various  purposes.  Much  is 
used  by  builders  for  concrete  and  mortar.  It  is  also  ex- 
tensively used  in  road-making.  As  it  is  entirely  free 
from  offensive  matter,  it  can  be  used  without  objection 
for  filling  low  lands,  for  building  roads,  etc.  The  quantity 
burned  in  each  furnace  is  given  as  36j  tons  per  week 
(132  hours). 

So  much  of  the  pan  contents  as  is  not  mixed  with 
ashes  and  so  sold  is  manufactured  into  a  highly  con- 
centrated manure  by  evaporation.  The  raw  material  is 
emptied  into  tanks,  where  it  is  treated  with  sulphuric 
acid  to  fix  the  ammonia  against  evaporation.  From  these 
it  is  run  into  other  tanks  over  the  drying-machines. 
These  contain  pipes  which  carry  the  vapors  from  the 
driers.  The  exhaust  steam  from  the  engines  is  similarly 
utilized,  Btising  the  contents  of  the  tanks  to  near  the 
boiling-point. 

The  steam-jacketed  drying-machines  consist  of  cylin- 
ders 8  feet  in  diameter  and  13  feet  long.  Each  has  a 
hollow  shaft,  through  which  steam  passes.  They  are  also 
provided  with  revolving  arms  for  stirring  the  contents 
and  preventing  them  from  forming  into  lumps.  Suitable 


IN  BIRMINGHAM 


163 


scrapers  prevent  the  collection  of  drying  matters  on  the 
surfaces.  The  foul  vapor  of  the  machines  is  arrested  in 
a  Liebig  condenser.  The  water  of  condensation  passes 
to  the  sewer  in  a  nearly  inodorous  condition,  and  the 
gases  are  passed  through  the  fire.  After  evaporation 
the  dried  material  is  ground  in  a  mill. 

The  working  charge  of  the  machine  is  16  tons,  and 
the  dry  manure  resulting  weighs  about  1 J  tons.  From 
800  to  1000  tons  are  produced  each  year.  It  sells  for 
about  $30  per  ton. 

By  the  statistics  of  1892,  the  total  refuse  collected 
was  185,200  tons  (of  2240  pounds).  This  was  disposed 
of  as  follows: 

Tone. 

Sent  to  dumps  away  from  the  city  by  boats  16,753 
Sent  to  dumps  by  carts  .  .  .  .  7,515 
Burned  in  furnaces  .  .  .  .  .  74,243 
Manure  sold,  or  wasted  at  dumps       .       .  86,689 

Total      .       .       .       .       .       .  185,200 

The  city  owns  and  operates  34  canal-boats.  None  of 
the  work  is  done  by  contract.  It  is  found  that  under 
business  management  the  agents  of  the  administration 
can  secure  the  greatest  economy. 

The  items  of  receipts  referred  to  in  the  early  part  of 
this  paper  do  not  include  the  sale  of  fertilizers.  No 
reference  to  this  is  made  in  the  annual  estimates  of  the 
department.  It  is  probably,  like  our  own  receipts  from 
scow-trimming,  paid  into  the  general  fund. 

The  chief  lesson  to  be  learned  from  Birmingham— and 
its  methods  are  duplicated  in  English  towns  generally  — 
is  the  lesson  of  non-political,  non-shirking,  and  non-poor- 
man-coddling  business  management  of  public  affairs. 
It  shows  us  that  a  department  of  public  works  should 


164 


STREET-CLEANING 


not  be  a  department  of  charities,  and  that— aside  from 
proper  and  generous  public  charity— the  money  of  the 
taxpayer  should  be  used  with  the  same  care  and  economy 
that  are  so  imperatively  necessary  to  the  successful  man- 
agement of  private  works. 

A  word  of  explanation  is  proper  as  to  the  "  poor-man  " 
element  of  the  problem,  and  it  applies  to  the  question 
of  public  wages  as  well.  The  sympathies  of  all  must  be 
moved  by  the  needs  of  the  pauper  class.  The  class  that 
is  obliged  to  work  at  hard  labor  is  the  happiest  class  in 
the  community  when  it  has  employment,  and  sympathy 
for  it  should  be  limited  to  its  fears  for  a  rainy  day  and 
to  its  unsatisfied  laudable  ambition  to  get  ahead  in  the 
world.  All  must  desire  security  and  relief  for  the  one 
and  advancement  for  the  other.  The  best  way  to  cecure 
these  is  through  the  general  prosperity  of  the  community. 
This  cannot  be  advanced  by  favoring  a  special  few  who 
are  lucky  enough  to  get  a  place  on  the  city  pay-roll,  at 
the  cost  of  the  multitude  who  have  to  pay  the  shot. 
Fair  wages  for  honest  work  is  all  that  a  wise  and  benefi- 
cent government  can  properly  give  to  any  man  from  the 
public  purse,  unless  he  is  a  pauper  who  must  be  kept 
from  suffering.  Too  good  a  chance  for  the  poor  man 
only  crowds  the  ranks  with  those  who  flock  in  from 
abroad,  and  it  makes  life  all  the  harder  for  those  with 
whom  these  come  into  competition. 


BRUSSELS 


New  York  has  about  ten  times  the  population  of 
Brussels  and  about  six  times  the  amount  of  street  to  be 


IN  BRUSSELS 


L65 


cleaned.  The  cost  of  street-cleaning  in  New  York  is 
$3,000,000;  in  Brussels  it  is  $100,000  (500,000  francs). 
The  cost  per  person  of  the  population  here  is  about 
$1.50;  there  it  is  about  50  cents.  The  cost  per  mile  here 
is  about  $7000;  there  it  is  $1350.  Wages  here  are  $2 
per  day;  there  they  are  50  cents  per  day. 

Disregarding  wages,  and  making  the  comparison  by 
day's  work,  we  find  that  in  New  York  the  working-force 
equals  5|  men  per  mile  of  street,  while  the  Brussels 
force  is  4ro  men  per  mile. 

The  work  in  Brussels  is  excellently  well  done,  and  the 
whole  administration  is  good.  It  is  all  under  the  control 
of  one  director,  Mr.  Smeyers,  who  has  organized  the  en- 
tire service,  and  who  has  won  great  credit  for  it.  The 
work  comprises: 

1.  The  sweeping  of  all  the  streets  and  public  places, 
and  the  cleansing  of  the  outlying  park,  the  Bois  de  la 
Cambre. 

2.  The  removal  of  all  sweepings  and  house  wastes. 

3.  Street-sprinkling,  and  the  flushing  of  streets,  alleys, 
and  courts. 

4.  The  cleansing  of  sewer  inlets. 

5.  The  care  of  urinals. 

G.  Disinfection  on  the  public  highways. 

7.  The  collection  and  removal  of  the  wastes  of  the 
abattoir  and  of  the  fish-market. 

8.  The  removal  of  snow  and  ice. 

9.  The  sale  of  the  collections  for  fertilizing,  or  their 
removal  to  a  depot  some  four  miles  from  the  city,  on  the 
canal  to  the  Scheldt. 

10.  The  administration  of  the  personnel  of  the  service, 
the  manufacture  and  maintenance  of  carts,  tools,  etc., 
the  purchase  of  horses  and  forage,  etc. 


166 


STREET-CLEANING 


N.  B.  It  is  forbidden  to  discharge  any  street-sweep- 
ings into  the  sewers. 

The  department  dates  back  to  1560,  when  the  wastes 
of  the  town  were  deposited  at  the  point  now  occupied 
by  the  main  depot.  Since  1853  the  work  has  been  greatly 
improved  and  systematized. 

The  present  station  and  the  canal  basin  were  com- 
pleted in  1865.  Formerly  the  street-cleaning  was  done 
by  a  contractor,  who  paid  the  city  for  the  privilege, 
selling  the  manure,  etc.,  on  his  own  account.  The  city 
received  6960  francs  in  1836,  the  amount  increasing  until 
in  1846  it  reached  26,940  francs.  Later  the  work  was 
taken  in  hand  by  the  city,  and  the  profit  reached  75,505 
francs  in  1856.  The  construction  and  use  of  sewers  soon 
reduced  the  amount  of  night-soil  to  be  collected  and 
sold,  and  as  the  sanitary  condition  improved  the  financial 
returns  fell  off.  The  people,  too,  became  more  and  more 
exacting  in  the  matter  of  complete  sweeping  and  better 
sprinkling,  so  that  in  1858  there  was  a  net  outlay  of 
11,950  francs,  which  by  1865  had  grown  to  102,000  francs. 
This  led  the  Council  to  let  out  the  work  for  an  annual 
payment  by  the  city  of  81,000  francs. 

Experience  showed  that  this  was  not  a  good  plan. 
There  was  a  perfect  deluge  of  reclamations  and  of  com- 
plaints of  bad  service,  and  public  dissatisfaction  became 
so  great  that  in  1871  the  city  again  undertook  the  work 
on  its  own  account,  with  the  satisfactory  results  that 
have  continued  until  this  day. 

The  limited  size  of  the  city  allows  the  concentration 
of  all  the  main  appliances  of  the  service  at  one  point, 
the  Quai  de  la  Voierie,  near  the  custom-house,  in  the 
northwest  part  of  the  city.  A  large  basin  has  been 
formed  in  connection  with  the  canal,  and  the  buildings 


IN  BRUSSELS 


167 


of  the  department  are  separated  from  this  by  a  broad 
esplanade.  The  carts,  wagons,  sweeping-machines,  and 
water-carts  are  stored  in  the  building.  There  is  stabling 
for  the  80  horses  used,  the  necessary  storage-room  and 
shops,  and  a  destructor,  recently  built  on  the  English 
model.  There  are  residences  and  offices  for  the  director 
and  his  staff,  and  the  whole  establishment  has  the  well- 
kept  air  of  a  military  post.  Eight  iron  canal-boats  con- 
stitute the  removal  fleet.  These  are  loaded  from  the 
carts  along  the  esplanade.  The  refuse  is  picked  over  by 
the  men  themselves,  and  they  are  allowed  to  sell  what 
they  cull  out  for  their  own  account.  The  sweeping  of 
the  streets  is  done  mainly  by  hand,  with  the  occasional 
accessory  use  of  sweeping-machines,  which  work  only  at 
night.  The  city  is  divided  into  eleven  sections,  and  the 
outlying  park  forms  a  twelfth.  Each  section  has  its 
supervisor,  who  is  responsible  for  all  details  of  its  work 
to  the  director,  who  is  in  turn  accountable  to  the  magis- 
trate of  public  works. 

The  supervisors  work  in  accordance  with  certain  gen- 
eral regulations,  but  they  are  allowed  much  discretion  as 
to  methods,  as  the  conditions  to  be  met  are  very  various. 

The  work  of  sweeping,  sprinkling,  flushing,  and  disin- 
fection begins  at  four  in  summer  and  at  five  in  winter. 
It  continues,  according  to  needs,  until  three  or  four  in 
the  afternoon.  A  half-hour  is  allowed  for  breakfast, 
and  an  hour  for  the  midday  meal.  On  Sunday  work 
ceases  at  eleven.  The  sweepers  work  in  groups  on  the 
heaviest  part  of  the  work  during  the  first  two  hours  of 
the  day. 

At  six  in  summer  and  at  seven  in  winter  the  collection 
with  the  carts  begins.  The  groups  of  sweepers  are  then 
broken  up;  about  seventy  of  them  are  detailed  to  help 


168 


STREET-CLEANING 


the  drivers  to  load  their  carts,  and  the  others  repair  to 
their  appointed  routes,  which  they  care  for  during  the 
rest  of  the  day.  Some  of  them  sprinkle  the  main  streets, 
the  boulevards,  and  the  roads  of  the  Bois  de  la  Cambre 
with  the  hose  and  jet.  The  streets  are  sprinkled  through- 
out the  day  with  water-carts. 

For  the  collection  of  house  wastes  the  city  is  divided 
into  68  routes,  each  having  its  own  cart,  which  makes  two 
or  three  trips,  according  to  distance.  The  carts  take  up 
the  sweepings  as  they  go.  They  are  very  large,  and  the 
loads  average  2-nr  cubic  yards,  which  is  about  one  half 
more  than  the  New  York  load.  The  house  collections  are 
finished  about  ten  or  eleven  o'clock,  except  on  Fridays  and 
Saturdays,  when  they  may  last  a  couple  of  hours  longer. 

The  sprinkling  of  the  streets  is  mainly  done  by  drivers 
selected  from  among  those  who  have  cleaned  up  their 
routes.  In  dry  weather  the  sweepers  sprinkle  with  the 
hose  the  spaces  which  they  are  to  sweep.  This  early 
sprinkling,  the  flushing  of  gutters,  and  the  washing  of 
courts  make  it  possible  to  delay  the  use  of  the  water- 
carts  until  somewhat  late  in  the  day.  It  is  estimated 
that  from  April  to  September  1,000,000  gallons  of  water 
are  used  daily  for  the  street  service. 

In  each  section  one  man  has  the  care  of  the  urinals; 
he  is  also  charged  with  the  disinfection  of  all  places  in 
his  section  which  require  such  treatment. 

The  removal  of  the  detritus  of  the  abattoir  and  of  the 
fish-market  is,  as  far  as  possible,  done  at  night,  with 
covered  wagons  specially  constructed  for  the  purpose. 

Concerning  the  removal  of  snow  and  ice,  as  I  had  no 
occasion  to  see  its  actual  performance,  I  translate  all 
that  is  said  about  it  in  the  director's  memorandum  of 
the  service: 


IN  BRUSSELS 


L69 


"To  effect  the  prompt  disappearance  of  snow,  its 
melting  is  secured  with  the  aid  of  salt,  containing  at 
least  ninety  per  cent,  of  chloride  of  sodium.  This  salt 
costs  about  four  dollars  per  ton. 

"The  use  of  salt  has  sometimes  been  criticized.  Its 
use  in  Brussels  is  justified  by  its  economy,  and  also  be- 
cause the  city  has  in  its  territory  not  a  single  place 
where  the  snow  taken  from  the  streets  could  be  piled;  it 
would  all  have  to  be  dumped  into  the  covered  river  (la 
Senne)  which  lies  under  the  central  boulevards.  Four- 
teen manholes  for  this  purpose  have  been  built  in  the 
arch.  The  extraordinary  work  that  has  to  be  done  in 
time  of  snow  is  the  subject  of  a  special  organization, 
conforming  to  the  depth  of  the  fall.  On  such  occasions 
the  administration  gathers  all  men  out  of  work  who  are 
capable  of  holding  a  shovel  or  a  broom.  These  are  very 
numerous  at  this  season  of  the  year." 

The  collected  wastes  are  offered  for  sale  as  manure 
at  a  tariff  of  prices  fixed  by  the  Administration  of  the 
Commune.  It  is  mainly  sent  out  in  boats.  What  fails 
to  find  a  purchaser  is  sent  about  four  miles  out  on  the 
canal  and  deposited  on  city  property  at  Schaerbeek. 

Assorted  sweepings  are  offered  "  free  on  board  "  cars 
at  Schaerbeek  for  40  cents  per  ton.  Its  agricultural 
value,  by  analysis,  is  two  or  three  times  this  price.  An- 
other notice  informs  those  who  live  in  the  city  or  its  / 
suburbs  that  the  department  will  furnish  the  same  ma- 
terial by  the  cart-load  at  their  residences;  and  that  it 
is  an  "excellent  manure  for  lawns,  vegetable-gardens, 
pleasure-gardens,  and  greenhouses."  The  price  is  ac- 
cording to  distance,  the  minimum  being  80  cents  per  ton. 
The  sales  in  1894  amounted  to  $11,330,  which  was  twelve 
percent,  of  the  net  expense  of  the  street-cleaning  service. 


170 


STREET-CLEANING 


The  authorities  of  Brussels  have  paid  much  attention 
to  the  question  of  cremation,  to  be  applied  not  only  to 
garbage  and  other  offensive  matters,  but  to  the  whole 
mass  of  material  collected  by  the  department.  A  com- 
mission was  sent  to  England  in  1887  to  examine  the 
methods  there  in  use.  They  reported  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  the  system  then  working  at  Leeds,  this  to 
be  applied  to  all  the  wastes  in  times  of  epidemic.  In  the 
absence  of  this  condition,  only  so  much  would  be  cre- 
mated as  could  not  be  sold. 

The  conclusions  of  the  commission  were  the  subject 
of  a  long  discussion  in  1891,  and  were  adopted  by  a  vote 
of  seventeen  to  four. 

The  report  of  1894  describes  the  installation  of  two 
furnaces,  built  together,  having  a  combined  length  of 
37j  feet,  a  width  of  14j  feet,  and  a  height  of  13j  feet. 
These  furnaces  stand  near  the  stables  on  the  north  side 
of  the  yard,  opposite  to  the  weigh-bridge.  They  are 
found  to  answer  a  good  purpose,  and  they  are  to  be  added 
to  until  capacity  is  secured  sufficient  for  the  incineration 
of  the  entire  output  in  time  of  need. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  street-cleaning  organi- 
zation of  Brussels  produces  the  impressions  of  great 
completeness  and  of  most  careful  and  successful  admin- 
istration. It  is,  taken  all  in  all,  the  best  thing  of  its 
kind  that  I  found  during  my  investigations.  The  reason 
for  its  success  is  not  far  to  seek.  It  is  the  result  of 
that  " aristocracy  in  official  affairs"  that  our  politicians 
are  wont  to  decry  when  they  discuss  civil-service  reform. 
It  is  due  to  the  fact  that  every  man  in  the  service  is 
assured  of  the  stability  of  his  position,  and  is  safe  in 
devoting  his  entire  thought  and  energy  to  his  work. 
"  Rotation  in  office  "  and  "  the  expiration  of  his  term  of 


IN  MUNICH,  COLOGNE,  TURIN,  AND  GENOA  171 


appointment "  do  not  disturb  him.  He  need  only  do  his 
work  well  and  faithfully,  and  his  future  is  assured.  He 
is  very  ill  paid  from  our  standpoint,  but  he  can  live 
comfortably  on  his  pay,  and  he  is  well  cared  for  and  well 
thought  of. 

The  benefit  fund  of  the  department  in  1894  received 
from  its  members  $1272,  the  city  added  $1228,  and  other 
receipts  swelled  the  total  to  $2837. 

It  paid  to  those  who  were  sick  $1970;  doctors'  fees,  $343 ; 
medicine  and  surgery,  $330;  funeral  expenses,  $58;  special 
aid  to  workmen,  $91;  expenses,  $7.60;  in  all,  $2799.60. 

"  N.  B.  The  delegates  of  the  workmen  have  had  four 
meetings  in  the  year  1894,  in  which  they  have  been  able 
to  assure  themselves  that  no  expense  foreign  to  the  aims 
of  the  institution  has  been  carried  into  the  account." 


MUNICH,  COLOGNE,  TURIN,  AND  GENOA 

The  only  remaining  places  visited  concerning  which  it 
seems  to  be  worth  while  to  give  an  account  are  Munich, 
Cologne,  Turin,  and  Genoa. 

The  work  in  Munich  is  noticeable  chiefly  for  its  nega- 
tive qualities.  The  streets  are  kept  in  very  fair  condi- 
tion, mainly  by  contractors,  the  city  doing  the  work  on 
asphalt  streets— a  limited  area— and  charging  the  cost 
to  the  property-owners.  As  a  rule,  nearly  the  whole 
service  that  is  performed  by  the  Department  of  Street- 
Cleaning  in  New  York  is  in  Munich  done  by  contractors 
employed  and  paid  by  private  individuals.  The  street- 
railway  companies  clean  their  own  tracks  and  the  space 
between  the  rails.    This  is  done,  and  very  well  done,  by 


172 


STREET-CLEANING 


sturdy  young  women.  They  wore,  last  summer,  no  dis- 
tinctive dress,  but  were  distinguished  by  a  uniform  straw 
hat. 

Cologne  was  a  great  surprise  to  me.  I  remembered 
its  condition  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  had  had  very 
little  occasion  to  notice  it  since.  I  found  it  scrupulously 
clean— cleaner  than  any  other  place  that  I  saw  in  Europe, 
not  only  in  its  central  show  parts,  but  in  its  outlying  and 
more  obscure  quarters  as  well.  My  earlier  observation 
had  recalled  Coleridge's  lines: 

The  river  Rhine,  it  is  well  known, 
Doth  wash  your  city  of  Cologne; 
But  tell  me,  nymphs!  what  power  divine 
Shall  henceforth  wash  the  river  Rhine? 

The  " thousand  and  one  stenches"  for  which  the  old 
city  was  noted  have  disappeared,  and  eau  de  Cologne  no 
longer  suggests  a  misnomer.  The  details  of  the  method 
of  work  are  similar  to  those  of  other  continental  cities 
and  very  similar  to  our  own.  The  people  seem  to  be 
well  trained.  Respect  for  the  cleanliness  of  the  streets 
has  become  a  second  nature.  There  is  very  little  litter- 
ing with  paper  and  trash;  receptacles  are  not  set  out  long 
in  advance  of  the  arrival  of  the  carts,  and  all  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  work  and  of  the  regulations  by  which  it  is 
directed  are  well  thought  out,  well  administered  by  the 
officials  and  well  received  by  the  population. 

Turin  is  very  little  behind  Cologne  in  any  respect.  Its 
department  is  well  organized,  and  here  at  last  we  found 
a  distinctive  street-cleaner's  uniform,  regularly  worn 
and  regularly  inspected,  and  kept  in  good  order.  In 
winter  the  men  wear  high-crowned  felt  hats;  in  summer 
their  hats,  of  the  same  shape,  were  of  mixed  straw,  pro- 


IN  MUNICH,  COLOGNE,  TURIN,  AND  GENOA  173 


ducing  a  light-brownish  effect.  The  uniform  is  of  a 
striped  blue-and-white  cotton  goods,  rather  heavy,  and 
rather  given  to  fade  under  washing  and  exposure  to  the 
sun,  but  very  good  withal.  The  men  trundle  heavy  hand- 
carts, after  the  manner  of  Vienna  and  Budapest,  and  the 
systems  of  collection  and  removal  of  sweepings  are  much 
the  same.  Turin  covers  a  large  area,  and  is  the  center 
of  an  active  traffic,  which  brings  many  horses  and  mules 
into  the  city,  in  addition  to  the  cavalry  and  artillery 
regiments  stationed  there.  The  ordinary  work  is  done 
by  1  superintendent,  8  foremen,  84  special  sweepers,  100 
ordinary  sweepers,  and  such  a  number  of  auxiliary 
sweepers  as  the  work  5f  the  moment  may  require.  These 
are  usually  needed  only  in  emergencies.  The  pay  of  the 
superintendent  is  60  cents  per  day;  of  the  foremen,  50 
cents;  of  the  special  sweepers,  45  cents;  and  of  all  others, 
40  cents.  The  requirements  for  admission  to  the  depart- 
ment are  a  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing,  and  age 
between  20  and  30  years,  robust  health,  and  a  certificate 
of  good  character.  The  men  are  retired  at  the  age  of 
40.  Promotions  are  made  for  merit  or  by  seniority.  The 
most  striking  feature  of  the  work  in  this  city  is  its  very 
low  cost.  The  population  was  given  to  me  as  340,000. 
Yet  the  whole  expense  of  the  department  is  only  532,500 
lire  (about  $96,000).    This  is  divided  as  follows: 


There  are  in  the  city  and  its  suburbs  about  8600  horses 
and  mules. 


The  chief  inspector 
Sweeping  and  carting  . 
Sprinkling  .... 
Tools  and  material 
The  removal  of  snow  and  ice 


220,000 
85,000 
25,000 

200,000 


2,500  lire 


174 


STREET-CLEANING 


Genoa  differs  little  from  Turin  in  its  methods  of  street- 
cleaning,  and  is  not  very  far  behind  it  in  the  matter  of 
tidiness  and  cleanliness.  Its  condition,  as  I  saw  it,  was 
very  satisfactory,  and  Americans  living  there  told  me 
that  it  is  always  kept  in  good  order.  It  is  evidently 
fully  up  to  the  general  European  standard.  The  marvel 
of  it  all  is  that  the  cost  of  its  work  should  be  so  little. 
The  wages  of  the  workmen,  the  highest  being  only  40 
cents  per  day,  would  seem  not  to  be  sufficient  to  account 
for  the  fact  that  the  contractor  who  does  the  whole  work 
has  recently  entered  on  a  new  engagement  for  four  years, 
at  an  annual  cost  of  $40,000. 

Here,  as  in  Turin,  there  are  two  classes  of  police— one 
for  the  care  of  the  public  safety,  and  one  for  the  main- 
tenance of  order.  The  latter,  who  guard  the  condition 
of  the  streets,  wear  natty  cloth  caps  and  long  coats, 
both  black,  and  ornamented  wTith  black  braid.  They  are 
armed  with  light  canes  topped  with  a  heavy  metal  head 
like  a  slung-shot.  This,  or  their  dignified  demeanor, 
commands  great  respect. 

In  reviewing  the  whole  subject  of  European  street- 
cleaning  as  it  came  under  my  observation,  the  most 
important  and  suggestive  consideration  is  that  which 
concerns  the  relation  of  the  people  to  the  work,  and, 
largely  as  leading  to  that,  the  manner  in  which  the  police 
intervene  to  prevent  the  littering  of  the  streets.  The 
regulations  in  European  towns  are  no  better  than  ours; 
the  laws  and  ordinances  are  substantially  the  same;  but 
there  is  the  immense  difference  that  in  Europe  laws  and 
ordinances  mean  something  and  are  executed,  while  here 
they  are  treated  as  mere  matters  of  form.  The  police- 
man in  Turin  would  as  soon  think  of  letting  a  highway- 
man escape  his  notice  and  official  attention  as  of  disre- 


IN  MUNICH,  COLOGNE,  TURIN,  AND  GENOA  175 


garding  a  man  who  deliberately  threw  littering  material 
into  the  street.  I  have  seen  policemen  in  Europe  accost 
gentlemen,  apparently  foreigners,  and  politely  but  effec- 
tively request  them  to  pick  up  papers  they  had  thrown 
away.  I  have  seen  policemen  in  New  York— and  the 
spectacle  is  observable  at  every  turn— saunter  in  a  dig- 
nified manner  past  a  crowrd  of  littering  people,  utterly 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  they  were  violating  any  rule 
or  regulation,  and  apparently  considering  it  beneath  the 
dignity  of  their  position  to  heed  the  suggestion  of  a 
citizen  that  they  wTere  not  obeying  their  orders.  Here 
lies  unquestionably  the  great  secret  of  the  difference  be- 
tween our  ways  and  Furopean  ways. 

As  to  methods  available  for  the  improvement  of  the 
New  York  system,  very  little  was  observed.  As  a  rule, 
our  carts  are  better  than  theirs,  being  lighter  and 
tighter;  our  brooms  are  probably  better;  and  our  meth- 
ods of  final  disposition  are  quite  as  good,  owing,  no  doubt, 
to  our  much  better  conditions  for  dumping  refuse.  In- 
deed, the  only  country  in  which  important  differences 
were  found  was  Austria.  The  method  of  separating 
wastes  at  the  point  of  final  disposition  in  operation  at 
Budapest  was  suggestive  of  very  important  improvements 
available  here.  So  in  Vienna  I  found  the  best  street- 
sweeping  machine,  the  best  sprinkling-cart,  and  the  best 
snow-plow.  All  of  these  will  be  tried  here,  and  adopted 
if  found  sufficiently  better  than  what  we  are  now  using. 

Another  matter  of  especial  interest  to  New-Yorkers  is 
that  our  system  of  street-sprinkling  is  entirely  unique. 
So  far  as  I  could  learn,  the  world  has  never  before  con- 
ceived of  such  a  method— where  only  tfaat  part  of  the 
street  lying  in  front  of  property  whose  owner  pays  the 
private  contractor  a  sprinkling-rate  gets  any  sprinkling 


176 


STREET-CLEANING 


whatever,  and  where  the  volume  of  water  used  is  regu- 
lated by  the  sweet  will  of  the  driver,  without  restraint 
from  any  official  authority.  In  Europe  street-sprinkling 
is  always  under  the  control  of  the  authority  by  which 
street-cleaning  is  regulated.  It  is  a  necessary  and  in- 
separable part  of  the  same  work.  There  is  a  proposition 
now  before  our  legislature  to  extend  and  to  increase  the 
street-sprinkling  monopoly  of  this  city.  I  trust  that  the 
people  will  insist  on  the  defeat  of  this  measure,  and  so 
avoid  the  further  tying  up  of  their  interests  in  this 
respect  with  the  financial  interests  of  a  street-drenching 
company  with  a  pull,  as  at  present.  There  is  no  more 
reason  for  farming  out  the  work  of  sprinkling  the  streets 
than  that  of  sweeping  them.  Both  are  functions  of  the 
municipal  authorities,  and  should  be  kept  undor  close 
control. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  JUVENILE  STREET-CLEANING  LEAGUES 
BY  DAVID  WILLARD,  D.  S.  C,  SUPERVISOR 

0  arouse  a  civic  pride  among  New-Yorkers  is  not 


distinctly  within  the  province  of  the  Department 


A  of  Street-Cleaning.  It  is  desirable,  however,  that 
an  interest  in  the  observation  of  the  simple  necessary  rules 
of  the  Sanitary  Code  be  awakened  in  the  minds  of  at  least 
the  ignorant  foreign  population  crowded  into  the  East 
Side  districts.  To  use  for  this  end  the  influence  of  the 
children,  who  are  recognized  by  their  parents  as  superior 
to  them  in  education  and  intelligence,  is  not  a  new  idea, 
but  one  practically  untried  to  any  extent.  The  fund  of 
patriotism  with  which  every  child  of  school  age  is  en- 
dowed constantly  shows  itself,  and  always  with  great 
strength.  It  is  unfailing  when  drawn  upon  for  the  city's 
interests.  Noting  the  zeal  with  which  children  have 
given  themselves  to  such  patriotic  organizations  as  the 
Civic  History  clubs,  and  the  equally  excellent  moral  As- 
sociation, the  Anti-Cigarette  League,  it  seemed  possible 
to  enlist  their  interest  in  the  cleanliness  of  the  city. 


178 


STREET-CLEANING 


A  beginning  was  made  in  the  lower  East  Side  under 
the  auspices  of  the  University  Settlement.  A  number 
of  boys  from  the  tenth  and  eleventh  wards  were  organ- 
ized into  a  club  by  a  detailed  Inspector  of  the  department. 
Shortly  after,  two  more  were  started  at  the  Educational 
Alliance  in  East  Broadway;  and  these  were  followed  by 
one  or  more  on  the  West  Side  and  several  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  city.  The  plan  of  organization  adopted  was 
parliamentary  in  its  nature;  officers  were  elected,  a  con- 
stitution prepared  with  a  stated  object  "to  keep  the 
streets  in  a  clean  and  healthful  condition,"  and  regular 
weekly  business  meetings  were  held.  During  these 
meetings  there  was  a  discussion  of  such  subjects  as  re- 
lated to  the  health  and  cleanliness  of  the  city.  The 
club  members  were  encouraged  to  report,  on  official 
blanks  furnished  them  for  the  purpose,  any  work  that 
they  might  have  accomplished  in  the  way  of  removing 
litter  from  the  streets,  inducing  others  not  to  throw  out 
refuse,  or  noting  certain  blocks  or  houses  where  the 
people  were  careless  in  their  habits  or  had  a  disregard 
for  the  sanitary  laws. 

The  movement  was  very  popular  with  the  children 
from  the  start.  "Please  may  we  have  a  club?"  became 
a  constant,  almost  daily,  demand  from  committees  of 
urchins  all  over  the  city.  One  such  band  came  in  one 
day  with  the  same  question.  "  And  why  do  you  wish  a 
club?"  said  L  "Oh,  the  boys  by  our  block  they  knock 
banana-shells  and  all  dirty  things  in  the  street,  and  we 
want  to  reform  them."  "  But  perhaps  the  boys  are  very 
bad  and  don't  want  to  be  reformed,"  I  suggested.  "  Oh, 
yes,  they  do,"  the  little  leader  replied.  "  We  asked  them, 
and  they  all  said  they  did." 

As  institutions  and  missions  came  forward  offering 


THE  JUVENILE  STREET-CLEANING  LEAGUES  IT.) 


their  rooms  and  requesting  us  to  visit  and  address  the 
children  they  gathered  together,  we  were  able  to  extend 
the  work  greatly.  Many  volunteer  directors  also  organ- 
ized clubs  under  our  supervision,  and  thus  spread  our 
system  and  its  influence. 

In  the  winter  of  1896-97  the  work  gained  such  wide 
and  favorable  notice  that  certain  civic  organizations  in 
Boston  and  Chicago  sent  representatives  to  investigate 
our  methods  for  the  purpose  of  starting  similar  work  in 
those  cities.  Philadelphia,  Brooklyn,  Pittsburg,  Utica, 
Denver,  and  numerous  small  cities  and  towns  are  taking 
up  the  idea,  and  report  most  satisfactory  results. 

This  past  summer,  by  an  arrangement  with  the  Asso- 
ciation for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  five 
classes  in  the  Norfolk  Street  Vacation  School  were  or- 
ganized as  miniature  departments  of  street-cleaning,  for 
such  work  as  that  done  by  the  outside  clubs.  So  suc- 
cessful did  this  new  style  of  organization  prove  that  the 
Board  of  Education  authorized  its  introduction  into  all 
of  the  city  schools  of  the  four  higher  grades. 

The  matter  of  clean  streets  is  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  child  in  the  class-room  by  short  talks  with  fitting 
illustrations  and  anecdotes.  He  is  made  to  feel  a  sense 
of  personal  possession  in  relation  to  the  streets,  which 
will  cause  him  to  keep  from  doing  them  an  injury  and 
also  make  him  resent  their  littering  by  other  people. 
Personal  pride  and  patriotic  feeling  are  stirred,  and  the 
matter  is  brought  closely  home  by  showing  that,  of  the 
hundreds  who  suffer  from  clogged  and  ill-smelling  sewers, 
slippery  banana-peels,  mixed  and  disease-breeding  gar- 
bage-barrels, the  child's  own  parents  or  even  he  himself 
may  any  moment  be  among  the  number.  Then,  that  the 
idea  may  be  kept  constantly  fresh  in  the  mind,  an  organ- 


180 


STREET-CLEANING 


ization  is  formed  which  is  modeled  after  the  department 
in  miniature.  Every  child  is  given  a  paper  on  which  to 
record  at  the  end  of  a  week  the  number  of  persons  or 
other  children  to  whom  he  may  have  spoken  about  the 
matter  of  keeping  the  city  tidy  and  neat;  the  number  of 
bonfires  which  he  has  succeeded  in  stopping;  the  number 
of  skins  which  he  has  kicked  into  the  gutter  from  the 
sidewalk;  the  number  of  papers  he  has  induced  others  to 
put  in  the  barrel  instead  of  on  the  pavement;  and  vari- 
ous things  of  a  similar  nature.  On  the  basis  of  such 
reports,  badges  are  given  out,  ranking  the  children  as 
"  Helpers,"  "  Foremen,"  or  "  Superintendents."  Special 
work  and  interest  is  rewarded  by  advancement  and  the 
assignment  of  some  particular  department  title,  together 
with  a  certificate  of  authorization  from  the  commissioner 
made  out  after  this  form: 


The  rank  of  Foremen  is  recruited  from  that  of  Helpers  as 
fast  as  the  Foremen  are  promoted  to  other  offices  or  dis- 


THE  JUVENILE  STREET-CLEANING  LEAGUES  181 


tinctions;  and  the  Superintendents  are  elected  every  two 
months  from  the  Foremen,  who  constitute  an  eligible 
class.  To  such  arrangements  the  children  lend  them- 
selves with  great  readiness,  and  a  friendly  rivalry  stim- 
ulates everything  which  can  tend  toward  such  a  better- 
ment of  civic  conditions  as  may  lie  within  a  child's  power. 
From  time  to  time,  under  the  auspices  of  some  particular 
miniature  department,  large  mass-meetings  of  children 
are  held  in  some  hall,  where  an  opportunity  is  given  to 
hear  talks  from  various  officials  of  the  large  department 
and  to  enjoy  such  simple  entertainment  as  the  children 
and  their  friends  can  offer. 

The  singing  of  "  street-cleaning  songs,"  of  which  these 
are  among  the  number,  adds  zest  to  the  enthusiasm  of 
such  meetings  and  has  its  share  of  influence: 


AND  WE  WILL  KEEP  RIGHT  ON 

There 's  a  change  within  our  city,  great  improvements  in  our 
day; 

The  streets'  untidy  litter  with  the  dirt  has  passed  away. 
We  children  pick  up  papers,  even  while  we  are  at  play; 
And  we  will  keep  right  on. 

No  longer  will  you  see  a  child  fall  helpless  in  the  street 
Because  some  slippery  peeling  betrayed  his  trusting  feet; 
We  do  what  we  are  able  to  make  our  sidewalks  neat; 
And  we  will  keep  right  on. 

And  all  the  people  far  and  near,  in  sunshine  or  in  rain, 
Rejoice  to  see  our  cleaner  streets,  and  find  the  reason  plain: 
We  children  take  a  hand  to  keep  our  thoroughfares  so  clean; 
And  we  will  keep  right  on. 


STREET-CLEANING 


NEIGHBOR  MINE 

There  are  barrels  in  the  hallways, 

Neighbor  mine; 
Pray  be  mindful  of  them  always, 

Neighbor  mine. 
If  you  're  not  devoid  of  feeling, 
Quickly  to  those  barrels  stealing, 
Throw  in  each  banana^peeling, 

Neighbor  mine! 

Do  not  drop  the  fruit  you  Ye  eating, 

Neighbor  mine, 
Oa  the  sidewalks,  sewer,  or  grating, 

^eighbor  mine. 
But,  lest  you  and  I  should  quarrel, 
Listen  to  my  little  carol: 
Go  and  toss  it  in  the  barrel, 

Neighbor  mine! 

Look!  whene'er  you  drop  a  paper, 

Neighbor  mine, 
In  the  wind  it  cuts  a  caper, 

Neighbor  mine. 
Down  the  street  it  madly  courses, 
And  should  fill  you  with  remorses 
When  you  see  it  scare  the  horses, 

Neighbor  mine! 

Paper-cans  were  made  for  papers, 

Neighbor  mine; 
Let 's  not  have  this  fact  escape  us; 

Neighbor  mine. 
And  if  you  will  lerrf  a  hand, 
Soon  our  city  dear  shall  stand 
As  the  cleanest  in  the  land, 

Neighbor  mine! 


THE  JUVENILE  STREET-  CLE  A  XIXG  LEAGUES  183 


In  this  way  large  bodies  of  children  are  reached  and 
interested,  and  the  incentive  is  given  to  start  new  clubs 
and  spread  the  work. 

The  principle  on  which  all  this  is  based  has  often  been 
criticized  on  the  ground  that  in  thus  appealing  to  chil- 
dren they  are  given  an  undue  sense  of  their  own  impor- 
tance in  the  school  and  city  and  that  a  tendency  to  spy 
upon  and  report  the  actions  of  other  people  is  encouraged. 
This  has  not  been  the  result,  however,  as  everything 
looking  toward  such  a  condition  is  eliminated  from  the 
work.  Emphasis  is  laid  solely  upon  the  child's  individual 
responsibility  to  his  own  city  and  his  own  best  self  for 
the  way  in  which  he  regards  the  streets  and  the  example 
which  he  sets  to  others.  The  whole  principle  is  embraced 
in  the  civic  pledge  which  each  club  and  department 
member  learns  and  repeats. 

CIVIC  PLEDGE 

We  who  are  soon  to  be  citizens  of  New  York,  the  largest 
city  on  the  American  continent,  desire  to  have  her  possess  a 
name  which  is  above  all  reproach.  And  we  therefore  agree  to 
keep  from  littering  her  streets  and  as  far  as  possible  to  prevent 
others  from  doing  the  same,  in  order  that  our  city  may  be  as 
clean  as  she  is  great  and  as  pure  as  she  is  free. 

The  weekly  reports,  far  from  being  complaints,  are 
statistical  statements  of  what  any  child  may  have  ac- 
complished. They  form  a  basis  for  awarding  badges,  and 
lend  formality  to  the  movement,  so  that  a  child  comes 
to  feel  that  he  is  rendering  to  the  city  some  recognized 
service.  Many  of  the  reports  show*  a  surprising  amount 
of  earnest  work,  and  are  themselves  refutations  of  all 
criticism,  as  well  as  object-lessons  in  what  can  be  done 

5 


184 


STREET-CLEANING 


for  children  in  the  way  of  teaching  them  clean  habits 
and  stirring  up  in  them  a  spirit  of  civic  pride. 

The  following  specimens  are  culled  from  the  weekly 
reports: 

"  Col.  Waring. 

"Dear  Sir:— While  walking  through  Broome  St., 
Monday,  at  2:30  p.m.,  I  saw  a  man  throughing  a  mat- 
tress on  the  street.  I  came  over  to  him  and  asked  him 
if  he  had  no  other  place  to  put  it  but  here.  He  told  me 
that  he  does  not  no  any  other  place.  So  I  told  him  in  a 
barrel,  he  then  picked  it  up  and  thanked  me  for  the  in- 
flammation I  gave  him.  I  also  picked  up  35  banana 
skins,  43  water  mellion  shells,  2  bottles,  3  cans  and  a 
mattress  from  Norfolk  St."— Metropolitan  League. 

"To  Col.  Waring.  Distinguished  a  bon-fire  in  5th 
St.,  between  Av.  C.  &  D."— Industrial  League. 

"I  saw  a  man  eating  a  banana.  He  took  the  skin 
and  threw  it  on  the  sidewalk.  I  said  to  him  please  sir 
will  you  be  so  kind  &  pick  it  up  and  he  said  all  right."— 
Juvenile  Progress  Club. 

"There  was  a  barrel  full  of  paper  on  East  B'way  and 
when  the  cartman  emptied  the  barrel  a  lot  of  small 
pieces  of  paper  fell  all  over  the  side-walk.  The  house- 
keeper took  the  barrel  in  and  did  not  even  try  to  pick 
them  up.  I  went  up  &  asked  her  to  pick  them  up  and 
she  refused.  Then  I  asked  her  to  loan  me  a  broom  and 
I  would  sweep.  She  consented  and  I  swept.  She  was 
baking  in  her  stove  so  I  put  the  paper  in  the  fire.  While 
doing  this  she  asked  me  who  I  was,  and  I  told  her  I  be- 
longed to  a  club  which  is  interested  in  having  clean 
streets.    She  asked  me  if  I  had  a  badge  and  I  told  her 


THE  JUVENILE  STREET-CLEANING  LEAGUES  L85 


we  could  try  to  keep  the  streets  clean  without  a  badge 
&  she  said  we  were  right."— Industrial  League. 

"Mr.  E.  Waring  So  I  passed  Grand  St.  so  I  saw 
paper  at  the  side-walk  so  I  told  a  Street  Cleaner  so  he 
said  I  shall  go  to  see  Mr.  E.  Waring  so  I  said  I  dont  no 
where  to  find  him,  that  was  the  second  time  that  I  saw 
that  again.  I  passed  Ludlow  St.  I  saw  a  can  dirt  where 
it  belongs  garbage  and  it  was  nasty  so  I  called  a  man. 
I  passed  Essex  St.  so  I  saw  a  lady  throughing  from  the 
window  apple  skins  down  stairs  on  a  lady's  head,  so  I 
called  up  and  she  said  she  won't  do  it  no  more."— VAClf- 
tion  School. 

In  sections  of  the  city  where  the  English  language  is 
but  infrequently  heard  the  children  are  often  the  only 
means  of  communication  which  parents  have  with  out- 
siders. Thus  the  children's  assistance  in  spreading  a 
knowledge  of  the  ordinances  and  the  reasons  for  them 
is  of  no  small  value.  This  was  keenly  appreciated  by  the 
department  at  the  time  when  the  new  law  relative  to  the 
mixing  of  garbage  went  into  effect.  By  the  aid  of  the 
children  we  were  able  to  translate  this  from  its  legal 
phrases  into  the  vernacular  and  spread  it  by  word  of 
mouth  from  tenement  to  tenement,  bringing  about  in  a 
short  time  what  would  have  taken  regular  inspectors 
some  months  to  accomplish.  As  another  instance  of 
positive  results  attained  by  the  children's  aid,  it  is  esti- 
mated, on  the  basis  of  their  reports,  that  over  six  hun- 
dred bonfires  have  either  been  extinguished  by  them  or 
called  to  the  attention  of  the  police  within  the  last  nine 
months.  This  makes  a  saving  of  several  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  Department  of  Public  Works  in  their  bill  for 
the  laying  of  new  pavements. 


186 


STREET-CLEANING 


Still,  if  nothing  is  gained  to  the  city  except  in  a  nega- 
tive way,  at  least  the  neutrality  of  thousands  of  children 
has  been  purchased,  and  the  streets  are  the  cleaner  from 
the  fact  that  so  many  are  kept  from  making  them  dirty. 
But  for  the  child  himself  results  are  all  on  the  positive 
side.  The  good  it  does  him  is  not  a  matter  of  conjecture. 
He  is  cleaner  in  his  person  and  in  his  habits,  to  which 
the  report  of  many  a  school-teacher  bears  witness.  And 
he  cannot  fail  to  grow  up  with  an  increased  love  for  his 
city,  the  result  of  that  knowledge  which  will  make  him 
the  sturdy,  upright  citizen  which  the  times  demand  in 
great  measure. 


CHAPTER  XV 


CONCLUSION 

THE  following  was  written  in  1894  by  Mr.  J.  g.  Da 
Costa  to  a  friend  in  Rio  Janeiro: 
"  New  York  seems  to  be  the  dirtiest  wealthy 
city  that  I  have  seen.  There  are  portions  of  the  city 
that  are  so  packed  with  empty  vehicles  of  every  size  and 
shape  that  one  is  apt  to  think,  from  a  view  of  the  filthy 
state  of  all  their  surroundings,  that  after  eight  o'clock 
at  night  the  commercial  portion  of  the  city  is  converted 
into  a  huge  dirty  public  stable,  unsightly  and  disgustingly 
hideous,  viewed  from  whatever  point  it  may  be  looked  at." 

New  York  is  now7  thoroughly  clean  in  every  part,  the 
empty  vehicles  are  gone,  and  no  such  criticism  as  that 
of  our  Brazilian  writer  will  ever  be  made  again.  "  Clean 
streets"  means  much  more  than  the  casual  observer  is 
apt  to  think.  It  has  justly  been  said  that  "  cleanliness 
is  catching,"  and  clean  streets  are  leading  to  clean  hall- 
ways and  staircases  and  cleaner  living-rooms.  A  recent 
writer  says: 

"  It  is  not  merely  justification  of  a  theory  to  say  that 
the  improvement  noticed  in  the  past  two  and  a  half  years 
in  the  streets  of  New  York  has  led  to  an  improvement 
in  the  interior  of  its  tenement-houses.    A  sense  of  per- 

187 


188 


STREET-CLEANING 


sonal  pride  has  been  awakened  in  the  women  and  chil- 
dren, the  results  of  which  have  long  been  noticeable  to 
every  one  engaged  in  philanthropic  work  among  the 
tenement  dwellers.  When,  early  in  the  present  adminis- 
tration, a  woman  in  the  Five  Points  district  was  heard  to 
say  to  another, '  Well,  I  don't  care ;  my  street  is  cleaner  than 
yours  is,  anyhow/  it  was  felt  that  the  battle  was  won." 

Few  realize  the  many  minor  ways  in  which  the  work 
of  the  department  has  benefited  the  people  at  large.  For 
example,  there  is  far  less  injury  from  dust  to  clothing, 
to  furniture,  and  to  goods  in  shops;  mud  is  not  tracked 
from  the  streets  on  to  the  sidewalks,  and  thence  into 
the  houses;  boots  require  far  less  cleaning;  the  wearing 
of  overshoes  has  been  largely  abandoned;  wet  feet  and 
bedraggled  skirts  are  mainly  things  of  the  past;  and 
children  now  make  free  use  as  a  playground  of  streets 
which  were  formerly  impossible  to  them.  "  Scratches," 
a  skin  disease  of  horses  due  to  mud  and  slush,  used  to 
entail  very  serious  cost  on  truckmen  and  liverymen.  It 
is  now  almost  unknown.  Horses  used  to  "  pick  up  a  nail " 
with  alarming  frequency,  and  this  caused  great  loss  of 
service,  and,  like  scratches,  made  the  bill  of  the  veteri- 
nary surgeon  a  serious  matter.  There  are  practically  no 
nails  now  to  be  found  in  the  streets. 

The  great,  the  almost  inestimable,  beneficial  effect  of 
the  work  of  the  department  is  shown  in  the  large  reduc- 
tion of  the  death-rate  and  in  the  less  keenly  realized  but 
still  more  important  reduction  in  the  sick-rate.  As  com- 
pared with  the  average  death-rate  of  26.78  of  1882-94, 
that  of  1895  was  23.10,  that  of  1896  was  21.52,  and  that 
of  the  first  half  of  1897  was  19.63.  If  this  latter  figure 
is  maintained  throughout  the  year,  there  will  have  been 
fifteen  thousand  fewer  deaths  than  there  would  have 


CONCLUSION 


189 


been  had  the  average  rate  of  the  thirteen  previous  years 
prevailed.  The  report  of  the  Board  of  Health  for  1896, 
basing  its  calculations  on  diarrheal  diseases  in  July, 
August,  and  September,  in  the  filthiest  wards,  in  the 
most  crowded  wards,  and  in  the  remainder  of  the  city, 
shows  a  very  marked  reduction  in  all,  and  the  largest  re- 
duction in  the  first  two  classes. 

It  is  not  maintained,  of  course,  that  this  great  saving 
of  life  and  health  is  due  to  street-cleaning  work  alone. 
Much  is  to  be  ascribed  to  improvements  of  the  methods 
of  the  Board  of  Health,  and  not  a  little  to  the  condem- 
nation and  destruction  of  rear  tenements;  but  the  Board 
of  Health  itself  credits  a  great  share  of  the  gain  to  this 
department. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  account  for  the  better 
work  done  on  the  streets  solely  by  the  larger  amount  of 
money  expended.  But  in  the  matter  of  cleaning  there 
has  been  no  such  increase  of  cost.  In  studying  this,  it 
is  proper  to  exclude  the  cost  of  "  snow  removal,"  and  of 
the  purchase  of  "  new  stock  and  plant,"  bought  for  per- 
manent use  and  to  repair  waste  due  to  the  work  of  pre- 
vious years.  The  expenditure  for  all  other  items,  for  all 
really  "  street-cleaning  "  accounts,  was  as  follows  for  five 
years  past: 


Percentage 
of  increase 

1892  ....  $1,890,376.46 

1893  ....        2,036,812.81  7.7 

1894  ....       *2,366,419.49  16.2 

1895  ....        2,704,577.26  14.3 

1896  .       .       .       .        2,776,749.31  2.7 


The  increase  in  1893-94  was  23.9. 

"  1895-96    u  17. 

Includes  $140,000  secured  in  judgments  against  the  city  for  increase  in 


190 


STREET-CLEANING 


Furthermore,  during  this  administration  the  employ- 
ment of  private  ash-carts  and  private  sweepers  has  greatly 
decreased  as  people  have  found  that  the  department  ser- 
vice could  be  relied  on. 

However,  suppose  the  work  has  cost  more.  It  has  been 
well  and  honestly  done,  and  it  has  produced  the  results 
cited  above.  I  accept  cheerfully  full  responsibility  for 
the  outlay,  and  I  should  gladly  spend  still  more  if  it  were 
needed  for  the  good  of  the  people.  And,  after  all,  how 
much  did  it  cost  all  the  people  of  this  city  for  all  that 
was  done  in  1896,  including  the  removal  of  snow  and  the 
renewal  of  "  stock  and  plant "?  The  total  sum  is  $3,283,- 
853.90.    And  how  much  is  that? 

It  is  almost  exactly  three  cents  per  week  for  each  one  of  us  ! 

The  progress  thus  far  made  is  satisfactory.  An  ineffi- 
cient and  ill-equipped  working-force,  long  held  under  the 
heel  of  the  spoilsman,  has  been  emancipated,  organized, 
and  brought  to  its  best.  It  now  constitutes  a  brigade 
three  thousand  strong,  made  up  of  well-trained  and  dis- 
ciplined men,  the  representative  soldiers  of  cleanliness 
and  health,  soldiers  of  the  public,  self-respecting  and 
life-saving.  These  men  are  fighting  daily  battles  with 
dirt,  and  are  defending  the  health  of  the  whole  people. 
The  trophies  of  their  victories  are  all  about  us— in  clean 
pavements,  clean  feet,  uncontaminated  air,  a  look  of 
health  on  the  faces  of  the  people,  and  streets  full  of 
healthy  children  at  play. 

This  is  the  outcome  of  two  and  a  half  years  of  stren- 
uous effort— at  first  against  official  opposition  and  much 
public  criticism.  Two  and  a  half  years  more,  with  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  present  official  favor  and  universal  pub- 
lic approval,  should  bring  our  work  to  its  perfection.  It 
should  make  New  York  much  the  cleanest  and  should 


COXCLUSIOX 


191 


greatly  help  to  make  it  the  healthiest  city  in  the  world. 
By  that  time  its  death-rate  should  be  reduced  to  15  per 
thousand— which  would  mean  for  our  present  population 
a  saving  of  sixty  lives  per  day  out  of  the  one  hundred  and 
forty  daily  lost  under  the  average  of  26.78  (1882-94). 

I  venture  to  predict  a  recovery,  from  the  sale  of  refuse 
material,  of  at  least  one  half  the  cost  of  the  whole  work. 

These  diagrams  set  forth  the  actual  relation  between 
the  work  of  former  years  and  that  of  Mayor  Strong's 
administration : 


Total  daily  sweeping  in  1888, 
172^  miles. 


Total  daily  sweeping  in  1897, 
924  miles. 


Annual  snow  removal  formerly, 
55.5C8  loads. 


Annual  snow  removal  now, 
495,977  loads. 


APPENDIX 


HISTORICAL 

THE  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  was  created 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  Chapter  367  of  the 
Laws  of  1881,  passed  May  26,  1881.  It  provided 
for  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  of  street-cleaning 
by  the  mayor,  with  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Health, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  causing  the  streets  of  New 
York  to  be  thoroughly  cleaned  and  kept  clean  at  all 
times,  and  of  removing  or  otherwise  disposing  of,  as 
often  as  the  public  health  and  the  use  of  the  streets 
should  require,  all  street-sweepings,  ashes,  and  garbage, 
and  of  removing  new-fallen  snow  from  leading  thorough- 
fares and  such  other  streets  and  avenues  as  may  be  found 
practicable.  Under  this  act,  the  commissioner  of  street- 
cleaning  was  empowered  to  let  out  special  contracts,  for 
periods  not  exceeding  three  years,  for  the  work  of  street- 
sweeping  and  cleaning,  or  for  the  collection  of  ashes  and 
garbage,  or  some  part  thereof,  in  particular  districts,  to 
be  designated,  such  contracts  to  be  approved  by  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  He  was  also 
authorized  to  make  special  contracts  for  the  final  dis- 
position of  the  material  for  a  term  of  five  years,  if  simi- 
larly approved. 

James  S.  Coleman,  the  first  commissioner  under  the 
new  law,  was  appointed  June  4,  1881.  He  held  office 
until  January  17,  1890.    Mr.  Coleman  says: 


194 


APPENDIX 


"  Early  in  1882  it  was  decided,  as  a  measure  of  econo- 
my, and  to  lighten  the  immediate  cumbersome  control 
of  the  extensive  working-force  and  apparatus  required 
for  the  whole  city,  and  to  insure  the  more  frequent  clean- 
ing of  the  streets,  to  try  the  contract  system  of  work  in 
the  territory  lying  south  of  Fourteenth  Street,  reserving 
that  portion  of  the  city  north  of  Fourteenth  Street  for 
the  operations  of  the  department.  The  territory  to  be 
embraced  in  the  contract  system  was  divided  into  two 
districts,  denominated  respectively  the  first  and  second 
street-cleaning  districts,  the  former  lying  west  of  Broad- 
way and  containing  fifty  miles  of  paved  streets,  and  the 
latter  east  of  Broadway  and  containing  seventy-five  miles 
of  paved  streets. 

"In  February,  1882,  contracts  were  entered  into  for 
two  years  with  C.  F.  Mairs  to  clean  the  first  district  at 
the  rate  of  $132,000  per  annum,  and  with  F.  Theodore 
Walton  for  the  second  district  at  $225,000  per  annum. 
The  streets  were  classified :  those  of  the  first  class,  being 
about  five  miles,  were  to  be  completely  cleaned  their  en- 
tire length  and  width  respectively  once  every  twenty-four 
hours;  those  of  the  second  class,  being  about  thirty-two 
miles,  were  to  be  cleaned  on  alternate  days;  and  the  re- 
mainder, about  seventy-eight  miles,  were  to  be  cleaned 
twice  a  week.  Besides,  the  contractors  were  obliged  to 
remove  all  ashes  and  garbage  from  the  streets  of  the 
districts  every  day;  and  when  the  streets  could  not  be 
cleaned  in  the  regular  manner  by  reason  of  a  heavy  fall 
of  snow,  the  contractors  were  obliged  to  employ  their 
entire  force  of  laborers  and  carts  in  removing  snow  and 
ice,  cleaning  cross-walks,  clearing  gutters,  and  generally 
preparing  for  a  sudden  thaw.  .  .  . 

"The  contracts  in  existence  in  1888  were  entered  into 
on  May  1,  1880,  for  three  years,  with  Hayward  &  Duffy 
for  the  first  district  at  the  rate  of  $117,490  per  annum, 
and  with  Michael  J.  O'Reilly  for  the  second  district  at 
the  rate  of  $204,900  per  annum.  .  .  . 

"In  considering  the  contract  system,  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that,  notwithstanding  the  increase  year  by 
year  in  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done,  comparing  the 


APPENDIX 


terms  of  the  first  and  the  last  contract,  and  in  the 
amount  of  work  that  was  accomplished,  yet  the  cost  to 
the  city  has  been  constantly  reduced: 


Mr.  Coleman  in  1889  made  an  elaborate  report  of  the 
work  of  the  years  1887-88,  with  a  review  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  department  from  1882. 

He  speaks  of  the  impediments  of  the  work  as  being 
"very  numerous  and  of  the  most  aggravating  character, 
.  .  .  such  as  badly  paved  streets,  the  want  of  proper  re- 
ceptacles for  ashes  and  garbage,  and  innumerable  street 
incumbrances  of  all  kinds,  .  .  .  the  more  serious  ob- 
structions arising  frcm  the  operations  of  various  private 
corporations  in  laying  down  pipes,  conduits,  and  other 
appliances,  and  making  repairs  to  the  various  under- 
ground communications  which  they  controlled.  These 
corporations  tore  up  the  streets,  dug  trenches,  threw7  the 
dirt  carelessly  on  the  carriageways,  and  piled  paving- 
stones,  lumber,  and  other  constructional  material  on 
them,  in  defiance  of  the  ordinances  and  against  the  pro- 
testations of  the  public.  .  .  . 

"  The  abuse  of  the  streets  was  carried  on  to  such  in- 
tolerable dimensions  that  the  grand  jury  made  the  sup- 
pression of  it  a  matter  of  serious  discussion,  and  even 
considered  the  advisability  of  indicting  its  promoters. 
The  Academy  of  Medicine  dissected  the  subject  from  a 
hygienic  standpoint,  and  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that 
street  excavations,  to  the  extent  that  was  then  going  on  / 
during  the  summer  months,  were  liable  to  lead  to  severe 
outbreaks  of  malarial  and  intestinal  diseases.  The  Board 
of  Aldermen  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  also  agitated 
the  question  of  securing  reform.  The  latter  body  held 
a  conference  in  December  with  the  mayor,  when  it  was 
generally  agreed  that  the  first  thing  necessary  was  to 
give  the  commissioner  of  public  works  complete  power 
to  relay  the  pavements  when  opened  by  private  compa- 
nies. But  the  needful  legislation  for  such  a  proceeding 


Contracts  for  1882 
"  1886 


$357,000.00 
322,390.00 


196 


APPENDIX 


was,  I  regret  to  say,  not  enacted,  and  all  the  agitation 
on  the  subject  resulted  merely  in  vigorous  protests  and 
denunciations,  and  it  was  only  with  the  actual  arrival  of 
winter  that  the  destruction  of  the  pavements  ceased." 

After  reciting  the  city  ordinances  and  the  laws  of  the 
Health  Department  concerning  the  disposal  of  refuse  by 
householders,  Mr.  Coleman  says: 

"  The  result  of  the  non-observance  and  the  non-enforce- 
ment of  these  laws  was  that  the  condition  of  the  road- 
ways, gutters,  and  sidewalks  in  the  crowded  tenement 
districts  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  city,  in  many 
instances,  was  exceedingly  offensive  in  appearance. 
Notwithstanding  the  regular  and  well-directed  daily 
labors  of  the  street-cleaners,  refuse  of  almost  every  sort 
could  be  seen,  within  an  hour  after  the  street  had  been 
regularly  cleaned,  lying  loose  on  the  street,  showing 
that  the  rules  of  the  Board  of  Health  were  not  observed. 
Tenements  containing  twenty  or  thirty  families  (repre- 
senting more  than  one  hundred  individuals)  were  supplied 
with  only  one  receptacle  (barrel,  can,  or  tub)  for  the 
ashes  and  garbage,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  greater 
part  of  the  refuse  was  thrown  on  the  street.  There 
were  many  instances  where  no  receptacle  of  any  kind 
was  used,  and  the  household  refuse  was  deliberately  flung 
into  the  street.  .  .  .  The  presence  of  ash-barrels  on  the 
sidewalks  never  fails  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
ubiquitous  rag-picker,  who,  hook  in  hand,  rakes  up  and 
overhauls  their  contents,  to  the  great  disgust  and  an- 
noyance of  residents  and  passers-by.  Such  proceedings 
are  a  violation  of  Section  96  of  the  Sanitary  Code,  which 
states  that  no  person  not  for  that  purpose  authorized 
shall  interfere  with  such  receptacles  or  the  contents 
thereof.  .  .  . 

"In  previous  years  the  experiment  of  collecting  ashes 
and  garbage  at  night  was  tried,  so  as,  if  possible,  to 
abolish  or  abate  the  ash-barrel  nuisance— the  unsightly 
appearance,  the  offensive  odor,  and  the  annoyance  to 
pedestrians  (unavoidable  in  windy  weather),  incidental 
to  the  collection  of  ashes  and  garbage  during  the  day- 
time.   The  trial  failed  because  householders  neglected 


APPENDIX 


197 


to  comply  with  the  regulations  requiring  them  to  put  out 
the  receptacles  at  such  hours  and  in  such  places  as 
would  render  them  accessible  to  the  ashmen  and  facili- 
tate the  prosecution  of  their  work." 

Concerning  vehicles  in  the  streets  Commissioner  Cole- 
man says,  "It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  number  will  reach 
close  on  fifty  thousand,  and  for  many  of  these  obstruc- 
tions there  is  no  warrant  of  law  whatever";  and  as  to 
the  law  regulating  the  deposit  of  building-material  and 
rubbish  in  the  streets:  4 'It  is  notorious  that  this  law  is 
not  complied  with;  and  the  material  becomes  spread  over 
the  street,  and  the  neighborhood  becomes  an  eyesore  and 
an  oft'ense.  High  winds  scatter  the  sand,  and  wThen  rain 
falls,  passing  vehicles  churn  the  earth  into  mud  and 
distribute  it  along  the  street.  Again,  in  numerous  in- 
stances the  material  is  so  pi  ced  that  the  free  flowage 
of  water  along  the  gutter  is  obstructed,  and  pools  of 
stagnant  water  form  on  the  streets." 

The  plant  of  the  department  consisted,  in  1888,  of 
"  380  horses,  359  carts,  40  sweeping-machines,  20  sprin- 
kling-carts, 3  snow-plows,  4  tug-boats,  42  scows. 

"  South  of  Fourteenth  Street,  in  the  territory  under 
contract,  the  plant  employed  consisted  of  18  sweeping- 
machines,  9  watering-carts,  and  from  135  to  190  horses 
and  carts  for  the  collection  of  street  dirt  and  ashes  and 
garbage." 

The  whole  working-force  of  the  department  in  1888 
numbered  896  men.  The  number  employed  by  the  con- 
tractors south  of  Fourteenth  Street  was  425.  In  addition 
to  these,  there  were  about  200  laborers  unloading  and 
trimming  scows,  making  the  whole  force,  in  round  num- 
bers, 1500. 

Horace  Loomis  held  the  office  of  commissioner  from 
January  17,  1890,  until  April  4,  1890,  when  Hans  S. 
Beattie  was  appointed.  He  was  succeeded  by  Thomas 
S.  Brennan,  September  17,  1891. 

The  department  was  entirely  reorganized  by  Chapter 
269  of  the  Laws  of  1892,  approved  April  9,  1892.  The 
newT  organization  wras  the  outgrowth  of  an  examination 
of  the  subject  of  street-cleaning  made  in  1891,  at  the 


198 


APPENDIX 


request  of  Mayor  Grant,  by  Messrs.  Morris  K.  Jesup, 
Thatcher  M.  Adams,  Charles  F.  Chandler,  D.  H.  King, 
Jr.,  and  Francis  V.  Greene. 

On  May  9,  1892,  Mr.  Brennan  was  reappointed  under 
the  new  law.  He  was  succeeded  by  William  S.  Andrews, 
July  21,  1893,  and  he  by  George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  January 
15,  1895. 

In  kis  letter  to  Messrs.  Jesup,  Adams  et  al,  Mayor 
Grant  asked  the  following  questions: 

"  1.  Is  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  efficiently 
managed,  and,  if  not,  in  what  respect  is  it  inefficient? 

"  2.  Is  the  present  law  adequate,  and,  if  not,  what  ad- 
ditional legislation  is  required? 

"  3.  Is  the  amount  of  money  now  appropriated  suffi- 
cient to  clean  the  streets  properly,  and,  if  not,  what,  in 
your  judgment,  is  necessary?" 

In  reply  to  the  first  question,  the  committee  says: 

"We  reply  that,  in  our  opinion,  it  is  not  efficiently 
managed,  our  standard  of  comparison  being  the  manage- 
ment of  well-established  private  corporations  engaged 
in  large  enterprises.  We  consider  it  inefficient  in  the 
following  respects: 

"  1.  In  the  employment  of  labor.  It  does  not  appear 
to  have  any  proper  system  of  selecting  laborers  and  cart- 
men,  or  of  permanently  retaining  those  who  are  capable 
and  hard-working.  An  effort  was  made  last  year  by 
Commissioner  Beattie  to  improve  the  method  of  select- 
ing laborers;  but  after  a  short  trial  it  was  abandoned, 
for  reasons  stated  by  him  in  his  letter  to  us  of  February 
7  and  in  his  conversation  of  February  20,  both  of  which 
are  given  in  the  Appendix. 

"  It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  the  same  commis- 
sioner that  it  has  been  the  custom  of  the  department  '  to 
have  men  appointed  and  removed  principally  at  the  whim 
of  the  person  who  makes  the  request/  and  that  the  men 
are  often  employed  only  two-thirds  time,  i.e.,  only  four 
days  in  the  week,  or  six  hours  in  the  day.  In  our  judg- 
ment, no  public  or  private  enterprise  can  be  efficiently 
conducted  with  any  such  system,  or  lack  of  system,  in 
selecting  or  keeping  its  employees. 


APPENDIX 


199 


"  2.  In  the  location  of  its  plant. 

"The  department  has  only  one  stable,  situated  at 
Seventeenth  Street  and  the  East  River.  Here  are  kept 
all  its  machines,  carts,  horses,  and  tools.  This  point  is 
about  five  miles  from  the  paved  streets  of  Harlem  and 
three  iiriles  from  the  center  of  the  down-town  district. 
The  average  distance  from  the  stable  to  the  point  where 
each  cart  and  laborer  does  his  work  is  about  two  miles, 
and  probably  one  fifth  of  the  time  of  the  employees  and 
animals  is  consumed  in  traveling  back  and  forward  over 
this  distance.  We  consider  such  an  arrangement  as  un- 
suitable as  it  would  be  to  have  all  the  apparatus  of  the 
Fire  Department  concentrated  in  one  engine-house.  .  .  . 

"  4.  In  the  lack  of  proper  organization  and  disposition 
of  its  force.  .  .  .  We  have  constantly  observed,  in  one 
part  of  the  city  or  another,  where  there  were  large  piles 
of  mud  and  dirt  in  the  gutters  heaped  up  but  not  re- 
moved for  several  days,  owing  either  to  lack  of  carts, 
lack  of  scows,  or  lack  of  proper  direction.  During  this 
time  the  piles  are  strewn  on  the  streets  by  vehicles  or 
by  the  wind,  and  the  work  of  cleaning  has  largely  to  be 
done  over  again.  We  consider  this  a  waste  of  money.  .  .  . 

"  There  are  minor  points  in  which,  in  our  judgment, 
the  street-cleaning  is  inefficient,  as  will  appear  in  the 
detailed  memoranda  in  the  Appendix;  but  the  failure  to 
obtain  more  satisfactory  results  with  the  $10,000,000 
expended  for  street-cleaning  in  the  last  nine  years  is,  in 
our  opinion,  due  chiefly  to  the  five  causes  above  named 
and  in  the  order  stated." 

The  second  question  is  practically  answered  as  follows: 

"  We  reply  that,  in  our  opinion,  the  present  law  is 
entirely  adequate  to  secure  the  cleaning  of  the  streets 
and  keeping  them  clean,  provided  it  is  efficiently  admin- 
istered and  the  commissioner  of  street-cleaning  has  the 
active  and  cordial  cooperation  of  the  mayor,  the  police 
force  and  police  justices,  the  Department  of  Health,  the 
commissioner  of  public  works,  and  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment.  Without  such  cooperation  at  all 
times,  no  legislation,  in  our  judgment,  will  secure  clean 
streets.    With  it,  the  present  law  is  sufficient." 


200 


APPENDIX 


Concerning  the  sufficiency  of  the  appropriation  the 
committee  says: 

"  We  reply  that,  in  our  opinion,  the  amount  of  money 
now  appropriated  is  not  sufficient,  and  that  the  sum  ne- 
cessary is  about  $1,800,000,  as  will  appear  more  in  detail 
in  the  estimate  contained  in  the  Appendix;  and  this 
amount  should  be  increased  from  year  to  year  in  propor- 
tion to  the  increase  in  amount  of  material  to  be  removed, 
which  appears  to  be  approximately  five  per  cent,  per 
year.  In  considering  the  question  of  necessary  expense, 
we  feel  obliged  to  say  that,  in  our  opinion,  the  present 
system  of  employing  laborers  and  cartmen  is  wasteful 
and  extravagant.  To  keep  the  streets  clean  with  such  a 
system  would  require  at  least  $2,500,000." 

The  following  relates  to  the  employment  of  labor: 

"By  the  testimony  of  Commissioner  Beattie  before 
the  Fassett  Investigating  Committee,  and  by  his  very 
frank  conversation  with  this  committee,  abstiacts  of 
which  are  hereto  annexed,  a  clear  idea  can  be  obtained 
of  the  system  of  employment  of  labor  which  he  found  in 
force  in  the  Department  of  Street-Cleaning  when  he  took 
office,  and  which  to  a  large  extent  prevails  there  to-day. 

"Briefly  stated,  that  system  is  this:  The  department 
has,  measurably  speaking,  little  or  nothing  to  do  with 
the  selection  of  its  own  employees. 

"  They  are  '  appointed  and  removed  principally  at  the 
whim  of  persons'  (unconnected  with  the  department) 
i  making  requests  to  that  effect/ 

"They  are  selected  'without  reference  to  their  ability 
to  do  the  given  work  for  which  they  are  employed,  and 
are  liable  to  discharge  without  good  business  reasons 
therefor.' 

"The  employment  of  laborers  by  the  department  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  deputy  commissioner,  and  4  men  come 
to  him  personally,  or  through  their  friends,  or  with  their 
friends,— and  their  friends  are  men  who  take  an  active 
interest  in  these  (public)  matters,  aldermen,  assembly- 
men, etc.,— and  apply  to  the  deputy/ 

"The  pressure  for  employment  is  great,  so  great  that 
\  there  arises  a  disposition,  even  on  the  part  of  the  fore- 


APPENDIX 


men,  to  accommodate  the  requests  that  are  made  and 
the  persons  who  make  the  requests;  and  no  doubt  it  oc- 
casionally happens  that  a  man  who  might  be  made  a  very 
good  public  servant  is  dropped  with  a  view  of  increasing 
the  number  of  places  to  be  filled.' 

"It  appears  also  that  the  department  is  subjected  to 
great  pressure  for  employment  of  labor  'which  is  utterly 
worthless  to  it,'  by  persons  identified  with  charitable  work, 
whose  motives  are  unselfish,  but  who  argue  that  the  per- 
sons whose  employment  they  advocate  must  be  supported 
by  the  city  as  paupers  if  not  as  laborers. 

"  No  examination  as  to  fitness  is  made  by  the  depart- 
ment '  beyond  a  casual  examination  of  the  man  by  the 
eye  of  the  deputy  or  superintendent/  and  no  record  is 
made  of  this  casual  examination. 

"  Once  appointed,  the  laborer,  however  well  conducted, 
has  no  assurance  of  permanent  employment.  Should 
the  appropriation  prove  insufficient,— as  is  frequently 
the  case,— or  should  it  be  injudiciously  expended  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  year  and  consequently  become  limited 
for  the  remainder,  he  is  placed  on  short  time,  working 
six  hours  instead  of  eight,  and  four  days  instead  of  six. 

"  He  is  employed  by  the  hour,  paid  only  for  time  he  is 
actually  employed,  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  cents  per 
hour. 

"  If  he  works  ten  hours  he  thus  receives  $2.50;  if  eight 
hours,  $2. 

"In  our  judgment,  such  a  system  is  at  once  ineffi- 
cient, wasteful  of  the  public  money,  and  productive 
of  bad  results.  No  well-managed  private  corporation 
engaged  in  large  industrial  undertakings  would  employ 
a  similar  system.  Other  municipal  departments  employ- 
ing large  numbers  of  men  do  not  use  it.  The  members 
of  the  Police  and  Fire  departments  submit  to  examina- 
tions which  must  reveal  certain  fixed  standards  as  con- 
ditions of  employment.  Once  enrolled,  they  are  certain, 
during  good  behavior,  of  permanent  employment  at  a 
fixed  wage. 

"  From  both  of  these  departments,  especially  from  the 
latter,  the  city  receives  excellent^service. 


202 


APPENDIX 


"  It  cannot  expect  an  equal  degree  of  excellence  from 
any  department  whose  system  of  employment  is  in  such 
glaring  contrast. 

"  When  Commissioner  Beattie  was  asked  by  us, 4  Is  the 
force  of  laborers  obtained  under  the  present  system 
satisfactory  to  you?'  he  replied  emphatically  and  decid- 
edly, 1  It  is  not.' 

"  That  he  is  not  alone  in  his  judgment  appears  from 
the  following  extract  from  one  of  the  many  letters  of 
the  same  tenor  received  by  this  committee.  It  is  from 
a  banker  residing  in  Fifty-eighth  Street  between  Madi- 
son and  Park  avenues. 

" '  For  the  past  seven  years  I  have  daily  crossed  Fifth 
Avenue  twice  on  my  way  to  the  elevated  station.  Scores 
of  times  have  I  watched  the  men  on  our  block  and  Fifth 
Avenue;  and  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  their  object  seemed 
to  be  to  accomplish  as  little  work  as  possible.  I  don't 
hesitate  to  say  that,  as  a  general  rule,  four  abb-bodied 
men  could  in  the  same  time,  without  extra  exertion,  ac- 
complish the  work  of  any  ten  men  that  I  watched,  and 
thus  it  is  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  are 
thrown  away— lazy,  aged,  worn-out  men  employed,  who 
do  not  through  the  day  perform  half  a  day's  work.  .  .  .' 

"The  reasons  for  discontinuing  this  system  he  [Com- 
missioner Beattie]  gives  in  his  answer  to  our  letter  of  in- 
quiry (p.  119),  and  further  in  his  conversation  with  us 
(pp.  34  and  35  of  Appendix). 

"  Briefly  summarized,  they  are:  want  of  cooperation  by 
the  executive  and  finance  departments;  and  vigorous  op- 
position, open  and  secret,  on  the  part  of  men  interested 
in  public  life  and  desirous  of  holding  public  office."  (He 
means  the  political  power  which  held  him  and  his  men 
under  close  subjection.) 

"The  plain  truth  is  that  the  system  is  of  so  long 
standing  and  of  such  sturdy  growth  that  the  right  of 
appointment  on  the  labor-roll  of  the  department  has 
come  to  be  considered  in  some  quarters  a  vested  right; 
and  no  one  who  has  not  practical  experience  in  such 
matters  can  conceive  the  tremendous  resistance  brought 
to  bear  against  any  effort  to  abolish  or  even  to  modify  it. 


APPEXDIX 


203 


"  In  our  judgment,  a  radical  change  in  the  system  of 
the  employment  of  labor  is  imperatively  demanded  as  the 
first  condition  of  successful  management  of  the  depart- 
ment." 

The  question  "  What  is  the  proper  amount  to  be  paid 
per  month  for  labor?"  was  very  carefully  considered. 

"  On  this  point  the  committee  has  made  somewhat  ex- 
tended investigations,  inquiring  as  to  rates  paid  by 
almost  all  the  large  corporations  and  private  firms  and 
individuals  engaged  in  industrial  enterprises  in  this  c^ty 
and  employing  a  large  force. 

"  Averaging  the  results  obtained  from  answers  to  these 
inquiries,  we  find  that  the  driver  of  a  single  truck  or 
vehicle  commands  $10  per  week  wages,  of  a  double 
vehicle  $12  per  week. 

"This  includes  care  of  his  horse  or  horses,  and  in- 
volves continuous  duty  from  6  : 30  A.  M.  in  summer,  and  7 
a.  m.  in  winter,  until  very  frequently  so  late  an  hour  as 
9  P.  M. 

"Stablemen  receive  $40  a  month.  Car-drivers  on 
surface  roads,  $2  a  day  for  twelve  hours'  duty,  of  which 
ten  hours  is  actual  work  on  their  platforms. 

"Porters  in  employ  of  the  large  express  companies, 
$50  per  month.  But  these  are  exceptionally  intelligent 
men,  must  possess  special  geographical  knowledge  of  the 
continent,  and  work  very  long  hours,  frequently  from  6 
A.  m.  till  10  P.  M. 

"Porters  on  ordinary  employment,  $1.50  per  day. 

"Employees  of  railroad  companies: 


Track-laborers  . 
Ashmen  . 
Coal-tenders 
Engine-wipers  . 
Sand-tenders 
Car-cleaners 

Deck-hands  on  steamboats 

Yardmen  . 
Flagmen  . 
Watchmen 


$1.60  per  day 

1.50  "  " 

1.60  to  $1.90  per  day 

1.50  "    1.75  "  " 

1.50  per  day 

1.50  to  $1.90  per  day 
30.00  to  35.00  per  month 
and  board 

1.25  per  day 

1.50  u  " 

1.50  to  $1.75  per  day 


204 


APPENDIX 


"  The  day,  as  here  quoted,  comprises  from  ten  to  twelve 
hours'  work. 

"On  the  'L'  roads: 

Guards  $1.50  to  $1.85  per  day 

Gatemen  1.25  to   1.75   "  " 

"  It  will  be  seen,  from  the  instances  above  cited,  that 
no  class  of  unskilled  labor  commands  the  same  rate  of 
wages  which  is  paid  to  the  laborer  working  eight  or  ten 
hours  per  day  by  the  Street-Cleaning  Department.  Tak- 
ing twenty-six  days'  labor  to  the  month,  the  city  pays 
$52  per  month  for  eight  hours'  work  per  day,  and  $65 
per  month  for  ten  hours'. 

"  The  current  market  rate  for  unskilled  labor  per  hour 
in  private  business  is  at  the  rate  of  12j  to  18  cents  per 
hour.  In  comparison  wTith  these  rates,  the  rates  paid 
by  the  department  are  on  an  extravagant  and  wasteful 
scale." 

As  a  conclusion  from  its  investigations,  the  committee 
recommends  a  uniform  rate  of  $40  per  month  for  the 
laboring-force,  which,  in  its  judgment,  would  command 
workmen  of  the  best  class. 

Its  general  conclusion  is  this: 

"With  good  labor,  skilfully  organized  and  properly 
superintended,  the  streets  can  unquestionably  be  kept 
clean.  With  labor  employed  on  the  present  methods,  no 
organization,  however  skilful,  and  no  superintendence, 
however  faithful,  can  produce  entirely  satisfactory  re- 
sults." 

As  to  the  violation  of  the  laws  and  ordinances  relating 
to  public  cleanliness,  the  committee  says: 

"  If  the  existing  laws  and  ordinances  regulating  the 
conduct  of  householders  and  citizens  with  respect  to 
cleanliness  were  faithfully  observed  and  duly  enforced, 
the  task  of  the  Street-Cleaning  Department  would  be 
greatly  lightened.  The  provisions  of  these  statutes  are 
full  and  ample,  and  seek  the  accomplishment  of  the  fol- 
lowing objects: 

"L  Provision  of  suitable  receptacles  for  ashes  and 


APPENDIX 


205 


garbage,  strong  enough  to  contain  the  material  without 
leakage  or  permitting  the  escape  of  any  of  it. 

"  2.  Restriction  of  the  amount  of  material  to  be  placed 
in  each  receptacle,  the  limit  of  filling  allowed  being  a 
line  four  inches  below  the  top  of  the  vessel. 

"  3.  Forbidding  interference  with  such  receptacle  by 
any  persons  not  for  that  purpose  authorized. 

"  4.  Keeping  the  entire  area  of  the  sidewalk  between 
the  curb  and  the  stoop-line  free  from  these  receptacles 
by  prescribing  the  space  between  the  stoop-line  and  the 
house-line  of  the  premises  as  their  proper  location. 

"  5.  Absolute  prohibition  to  all  persons  to  place  any 
ashes,  offal,  vegetables,  garbage,  dross,  cinders,  shells, 
straw,  shavings,  filth,  dirt,  or  rubbish  of  any  kind  what- 
ever in  any  gutter,  street,  lane,  alley,  or  any  place  in  the 
city.  Even  shaking  and  beating  of  mats,  carpets,  and 
clothes  in  the  streets  is  forbidden. 

"  The  laws  and  ordinances  in  question  issue  from  three 
sources— the  Legislature,  the  Common  Council,  and  the 
Board  of  Health;  and  for  a  wilful  violation  of  any  of 
them  punishment  by  fine  and  arrest  is  prescribed,  thus 
bringing  the  offenses  within  the  class  of  misdemean- 
ors. In  addition  to  this,  an  offender  against  the  Sani- 
tary Code  is  liable  to  pay  a  penalty  of  $50  in  a  civil 
action  to  be  recovered  in  the  name  of  the  Health  De- 
partment. 

"  Theoretically,  under  the  operation  of  those  laws,  New 
York  should  be  one  of  the  cleanest  cities  in  the  world; 
practically,  it  is  one  of  the  dirtiest,  because  they  are  so 
habitually  violated  and  so  feebly  enforced  as  to  become 
dead  letters.  ...  As  a  matter  of  fact,  many  of  the 
gutters  are  choked  with  ashes  and  garbage,  and  piles  of 
this  offensive  material  can  be  seen  in  the  streets  them- 
selves, which,  if  left  uncollected  for  a  few  days,  become 
in  the  winter  season  solidified  masses  resisting  the  action 
of  any  instrument  less  effective  than  a  pickax,  and  fre- 
quently remaining  undisturbed  for  a  period  of  months. 
In  our  observation  of  the  streets  during  the  last  eight 
weeks  we  have  rarely  found  in  the  tenement  districts 
any  proper  provision  of  suitable  receptacles  for  ashes 


206 


APPENDIX 


and  garbage.  We  have  seen  the  curbs  of  the  sidewalks 
lined  with  boxes,  both  of  wood  and  paper,  broken  barrels, 
small  tin  cans,  and  every  conceivable  unfit  receptacle  for 
ashes  and  garbage,  all  overflowing  into  the  gutters.  In 
addition  to  this,  we  have  observed  large  piles  of  ashes 
and  garbage  thrown  directly  into  the  gutter,  and  upon 
the  street  itself,  in  default  of  any  receptacle  whatever. 
When  we  have  seen  a  regular  and  proper  receptacle  for 
ashes,  it  has  been  in  instances  where  it  is  evident  that 
but  one  has  been  provided  for  a  house  containing  many 
families,  and  consequently  utterly  incapable  of  holding 
the  amount  which  must  daily  be  gotten  rid  of.  .  .  . 

"  But  the  violation  of  these  ordinances  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  the  tenement-house  district.  The  law  against 
throwing  litter  and  rubbish  of  any  kind  into  the  gutters 
and  streets  is  daily  and  hourly  violated  in  the  best  sec- 
tions of  this  city,  and  that  by  people  who  have  not  the 
excuse  of  ignorance  of  the  law.  We  have  seen  promi- 
nent business  houses  on  Fifth  Avenue  engaged  in  un- 
packing large  cases  upon  the  sidewalk,  the  operation 
involving  the  throwing  into  the  street  of  paper,  straw, 
and  litter  of  all  descriptions.  We  have  seen  well-dressed 
men  on  their  way  down-town  deliberately  toss  into  the 
public  highway  the  eight-page  newspaper  which  they  had 
just  finished  reading.  We  have  seen  the  same  class  of 
people  disembarrass  themselves  of  handfuls  of  paper  and 
scraps  by  the  same  easy  process.  We  have  seen  men 
engaged  in  repairing  the  sidewalks,  where  the  material 
taken  up  was  decayed  wood,  throw  the  debris  into  the 
public  streets,  and  leave  it  there  in  piles.  We  have  seen 
in  front  of  a  well-known  and  reputable  establishment  on 
Union  Square  the  remains  of  a  large  awning,  partially 
destroyed  by  fire,  cast  deliberately  into  the  gutter.  It 
is  a  matter  of  daily  habit  with  many  storekeepers  upon 
the  lines  of  the  great  lateral  avenues  to  commence  the 
day  by  sweeping  out  all  the  refuse  litter  of  their  stores 
into  the  streets. 

"It  is  useless  to  multiply  these  instances;  every  one 
will  recognize  the  fact  of  their  daily  and  hourly  occur- 
rence.   It  is  a  hopeless  task  to  keep  the  streets  of  this 


APPENDIX 


207 


city  clean  so  long  as  the  people  themselves  are  deter- 
mined to  keep  them  dirty.  .  .  . 

"  We  have  in  many  instances  seen  offenses  of  the  na- 
ture above  specified  committed  under  the  eyes  and  the 
placid  inspection  of  members  of  the  police  force.  We 
have  called  the  attention  of  the  patrolmen  to  these  vio- 
lations and  requested  them  to  enforce  the  law.  We  have 
been  met  with  manifestations  of  genuine  surprise  and 
the  remark  that  when  the  people  got  through  making 
the  dirt  .they  would  probably  clean  it  up  by  and  by. 

"The  truth  is  that  the  authorities  have  so  long  ac- 
quiesced in  this  state  of  things  that  a  large  majority  of 
the  residents  of  New  York  are  unaware  of  the  existence 
of  these  laws,  and  in  committing  the  acts  described  are 
unconscious  that  they  are  infringing  them. 

"  More  than  this,  we  believe  that  many  of  the  regular 
police  force  share  this  ignorance,  and  that  an  examina- 
tion of  the  force,  if  fairly  conducted,  would  show  a  large 
percentage  of  them  unable  to  give  an  intelligent  state- 
ment of  the  laws  in  question. 

"The  police  magistrates  of  the  city  also  fail  to  do 
their  part  in  the  enforcement  of  these  ordinances.  In 
many  instances  they  have  been  known,  instead  of  prais- 
ing the  efficiency  of  an  officer  who  has  brought  offenders 
against  the  sanitary  laws  before  them,  to  severely  repri- 
mand him  for  exceeding  his  province.  When  they  impose 
a  fine,  it  is  apt  to  be  the  lightest  allowed,  and  they  are 
prone  to  treat  cases  of  this  kind  with  such  levity  that 
the  offender  is  more  apt  to  repeat  the  offense  than  to 
take  warning." 

CLEANING  BY  HAND  OR  BY  MACHINERY 

"The  street-cleaning  as  conducted  prior  to  the  past 
year  has  been  accomplished  entirely  by  machines,  a 
machine  of  the  small  pattern,  drawn  by  either  one  or  two 
horses,  being  used  to  brush  the  dirt  into  the  gutters, 
where  it  is  collected  in  piles  by  men  with  brooms  and 
hoes,  and  these  piles  are  shoveled  into  carts  and  removed 
to  the  dumping-boards.  .  .  .  The  method  of  cleaning  by 


208 


APPEXDIX 


machine  has  been  extremely  unsatisfactory,  partly  due 
to  the  bad  condition  of  the  pavements,  partly  to  the 
difficulty  of  the  machines  getting  through  streets  owing 
to  the  obstructions  by  trucks,  and  partly  owing  to  a  lack 
of  proper  supervision  of  their  work." 

FINAL  DISPOSITION 

The  committee  made  the  following  report  on  the  final 
disposition  of  the  matters  collected: 

"The  ashes  and  garbage  and  street-sweepings,  col- 
lected in  carts  in  the  manner  heretofore  described,  are 
taken  to  the  dumping-boards,  of  which  there  are  ten  on 
each  river.  These  dumping-boards  consist  of  a  rude 
platform  eight  to  ten  feet  higher  than  the  street,  along- 
side of  which  lies  a  scow.  The  loaded  carts  are  hauled 
up  onto  the  dumping-board  by  the  aid  of  a  hill-horse, 
and  the  load  is  dumped  in  the  open  air  onto  the  scow 
beneath.  The  material  is  then  picked  over  by  organized 
rag-pickers,  who  pay  the  city  about  $57,500  per  year  for 
the  privilege,  which  is  sold  at  auction.  In  this  picking 
a  small  amount  of  material  is  dropped  overboard,  which 
in  the  aggregate  soon  becomes  a  large  amount  and  re- 
quires frequent  dredging  of  the  slips  alongside  the  dump- 
ing-boards. When  a  scow  is  loaded,  it  is  taken  away  by 
a  tug,  and  discharged  either  at  sea  or  along  the  Harlem 
River,  or  other  low  grounds  that  require  filling." 

THE  COST  OF  THE  WORK 

"The  annual  appropriations  for  conducting  the  busi- 
ness have  varied  from  $1,010,000  in  1882  to  $1,280,525  in 
1890,  the  total  for  nine  years  ending  with  1890  being 
$10,244,725.  For  the  current  year  the  appropriation  is 
$1,584,250,  of  which  $73,000  is  for  special  police  and 
$200,000  for  new  plant,  leaving  $1,311,250  available  for 
cleaning,  or  about  two  per  cent,  more  than  in  1890.  The 
accounts  of  the  department  are  kept  under  seven  differ- 
ent heads,  and  the  expenditures  for  each  in  1890  were  as 
follows: 


APPENDIX 


209 


Administration   .       .       .  $118,986.82,  or  9  per  cent. 

Sweeping    ....  321,559.36,  "25 

Carting      .       .       .       .  528,768.63,  "  42 

Removing  snow  and  ice      .  42,460.85,  "3 

Final  disposition  of  material  235,816.09,  "19 

New  stock        .       .       .  16,539.00,  "  1 

Rentals  and  contingencies  .  15,517.09,  M  1 

Total  .       .       .      $1,279,647.84,  or  100  per  cent. 

"The  expenditures  varied  per  month  from  $83,776.66 
in  August  to  $124,999.59  in  January. 

"This  sum  of  more  than  a  million  and  a  quarter  of 
dollars,  however,  by  no  means  represents  the  total  amount 
expended  for  street-cleaning  and  removing  refuse.  .  .  . 
The  total  amount  .  .  .  expended  from  private  funds 
to  supplement  the  public  service  cannot  be  accurately 
stated,  but  we  have  the  data  to  show  that  it  is  at  least 
$100,000.  Through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Francis  P.  Kin- 
nicutt,  Mrs.  Richard  Irvin,  and  other  ladies,  who  have 
made  a  careful  canvass  of  the  district  between  Eighth 
and  Eightieth  streets  in  the  center  of  the  city,  we  learn 
that  not  less  than  2852  families  in  that  district  employ 
private  ashmen,  at  an  average  of  $2  per  month,  or  a 
total  of  $68,448  per  year.  How  much  is  expended  in 
fees  to  public  ashmen  we  cannot  state,  and  it  is  even 
possible  that  householders  sometimes  mistake  the  public 
ashman  for  one  supposed  to  be  exclusively  in  their  em- 
ploy. This  is  exclusive  of  the  large  hotels,  apartment- 
houses,  and  clubs,  as  well  as  shops  and  manufacturing 
establishments,  all  of  which  haul  their  ashes  to  the 
dumping-boards  at  their  own  expense.  In  this  same  dis-  / 
trict,  not  less  than  63  blocks,  with  an  aggregate  length 
of  about  eight  miles,  are  cleaned  throughout  the  day  on 
the  patrol  system  at  private  expense,  the  price  paid 
being  about  $500  per  year  for  each  block,  or  $31,500  in 
all.  This  is  exclusive  of  Broadway,  Fourteenth  and 
Twenty-third  streets,  which  are  kept  perfectly  clean  at 
the  expense  of  the  owners  of  large  retail  stores,  at  an 
estimated  annual  cost  of  $7000.  These  figures  account 
for  about  $107,000  of  private  money  expended  for  street- 


210 


APPENDIX 


cleaning  and  removal  of  ashes  and  garbage,  exclusive  of 
what  is  spent  by  hotels  and  other  large  establishments 
above  mentioned.  What  the  total  amount  is  we  are  un- 
able to  say,  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  be- 
tween $150,000  and  $175,000. 

"  We  think  it  unnecessary  to  comment  on  this  state 
of  affairs  further  than  to  say  that  a  system  which  leads 
householders  to  expend  so  large  a  sum  of  their  private 
money,  in  addition  to  the  taxes  on  their  houses,  in  order 
to  secure  the  measure  of  cleanliness  to  which  they  think 
they  are  entitled,  is  a  system  which  leaves  much  to  be 
desired  on  the  score  of  efficiency." 

The  committee  paid  special  attention  to  the  standing 
of  trucks  in  the  street,  condemning  the  practice,  as 
have  all  who  have  had  occasion  to  consider  it,  setting 
forth  thus  the  practical  difficulties  which  had  been  en- 
countered in  the  experimental  work  they  had  done: 

"  The  practical  difficulties  in  the  way  of  cleaning  the 
streets  when  they  are  incumbered  by  vehicles  are  many 
and  serious.  In  the  experimental  work  done  by  the 
committee  they  were  conclusively  demonstrated.  In  the 
case  of  machine-sweeping,  the  machine  was  compelled 
to  make  a  detour  around  every  vehicle,  averaging  six 
feet  in  width  and  sixteen  feet  in  length,  leaving  thus 
a  hundred  square  feet  along  the  gutters  untouched. 
Where  there  was  a  wagon  in  front  of  each  lot,  the 
space  between  the  wagons  was  too  small  to  admit  of  a 
sweeping-machine  working  in  toward  the  curb,  and  so 
a  strip  at  least  six  feet  wide  from  the  curb-line  was  left 
unswept  by  the  machine,  rendering  it  necessary  to  follow 
the  sweeper  by  a  gang  of  men  who  had  to  move  the 
vehicles  and  sweep  the  space  beneath  them  by  hand. 
Where  trucks  lined  the  street  on  both  sides,  as  was  fre- 
quently the  case,  over  half  the  roadway,  and  that  the 
more  important  part  of  it,  had  been  left  unswept.  And 
since  this  was  not  an  occasional  occurrence  merely,  but 
a  constant  condition  of  the  streets  during  the  hours 
when  the  cleaners  were  at  work,  there  had  resulted  an 
accumulation  of  street  refuse  under  the  trucks  and  carts 
of  formidable  proportions.    Many  of  these  vehicles, 


APPEXDIX 


211 


known  as  'dead  trucks/  have  occupied  the  same  space 
for  a  continuous  number  of  years.  The  condition  of  the 
streets  beneath  them  can  readily  be  imagined. 

"  Where  the  cleaning  was  done  by  hand  the  difficulties 
encountered  in  the  presence  of  the  vehicles  in  the  street 
were  quite  as  imposing.  To  get  at  the  pavement  and 
gutters  under  the  vehicles,  the  sweepers  were  required 
to  move  them  out  from  the  gutters  and  back  again;  and 
to  do  this  required,  in  many  instances,  the  utmost  exer- 
tions of  two  or  three  men.  Where  the  vehicles  were  few 
and  far  between,  this  was  not  a  very  serious  matter;  but 
instances  of  this  description  were  so  few  that  they  do 
not  materially  affect  the  rule.  The  general  rule  is  that 
there  are  so  many  vehicles,  and  that  they  take  up  so 
much  of  the  street,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the 
cleaners  to  regularly  move  them,  and  therefore  the  por- 
tion of  the  street  occupied  by  them  remains  unswept. 
In  the  sections  of  the  city  where  this  rule  most  largely 
obtained,  the  accumulations  of  decaying  and  fermenting 
vegetable  and  animal  matter  had  been  undisturbed  for 
weeks  and  months  at  a  time,  except  as  an  occasional 
shower  of  rain  had  served  to  wash  some  of  them  into  the 
sewers,  and  except  where  a  truck  or  cart  on  leaving  its 
mooring  distributed  a  portion  of  them  out  over  the  pave- 
ment. 

"  The  presence  of  these  vehicles  in  the  street,  further- 
more, renders  exceedingly  difficult  the  collection  of  ashes 
and  garbage.  Where  the  scavenger  and  ashman  were 
required  to  move  the  ash-  and  garbage-barrels  and  other 
receptacles  around  long  rows  of  wagons  before  they 
reached  the  cart  into  which  they  were  to  be  dumped,  it 
was  inevitable  that  the  sidewalks  and  streets  should  be 
littered  with  their  contents,  and  that  the  work  should 
reflect  the  carelessness  of  the  men  who  were  required  to 
perform  this  unnecessary  labor.  From  the  sidewalks 
this  refuse  would  be  tracked  into  the  houses  and  court- 
yards, pervading  everything,  and  making  cleanliness  and 
order  in  the  home  next  to  impossible. 

"The  storage  of  these  thousands  of  vehicles  in  the 
street  is  to  be  condemned  not  only  because  they  make 


212 


APPENDIX 


the  regular  cleaning  of  the  street  impossible,  but  because 
they  are  lurking-  and  hiding-places  for  the  vicious  and 
dissolute,  the  scenes  of  petty  crimes  and  misdemeanors." 

The  committee's  experiment  was  conducted  during 
four  weeks.  It  is  worthy  of  very  careful  consideration, 
because  it  resulted  in  the  introduction  of  the  patrol  or 
block  system  now  in  vogue. 

"  During  the  first  two  weeks,  ending  February  28,  ice 
and  snow  prevented  cleaning  on  three  days,  and  the 
cleaning  was  in  progress  on  nine  days.  On  March  2  the 
sections  were  reversed,  i.  e.,  the  machines  were  sent  into 
the  section  which  had  previously  been  cleaned  by  hand, 
and  vice  versa;  but  a  heavy  snow-storm,  followed  by 
freezing  weather,  prevented  making  a  fair  test  of  clean- 
ing on  the  third  week.  On  the  fourth  week  the  weather 
wTas  fairly  good,  and  both  systems  were  in  full  operation. 
In  addition  to  almost  daily  observation  of  some  portion 
of  each  district,  we  made  a  careful  inspection  cl  every 
street  in  both  sections  on  February  23,  and  again  on 
March  14.  In  the  first  inspection  we  found  the  hand- 
work, with  a  few  trifling  exceptions,  well  done;  the 
streets  were  remarkably  clean.  But  in  many  places  we 
found  the  push-carts  filled  and  a  number  of  piles  of  dirt 
in  the  gutters  awaiting  the  arrival  of  carts,  showing  that 
the  cart  service  was  defective.  The  machine  section  was 
not  clean.  The  dirt  had  only  been  partially  removed  by 
the  machines.  In  many  streets  the  windrows  of  dirt  in 
the  gutter  had  not  been  heaped  up,  and  in  other  streets 
large  and  numerous  heaps  of  black  mud  had  been  left  in 
the  gutters  for  at  least  forty-eight  hours.  In  our  second 
inspection  (March  14)  we  found  the  streets  in  both  sec- 
tions thoroughly  cleaned,  except  where  storekeepers  had 
thrown  refuse  after  the  sweepers  had  stopped  work; 
there  was  not  a  heap  of  dirt  to  be  seen  in  the  gutters 
anywhere  in  the  entire  thirty-two  miles.  The  hand  sec- 
tion was  perfectly  clean;  the  machine  section  was  as 
clean  as  machines  operating  over  rough  pavements  could 
possibly  make  it.  There  was  a  vast  improvement  over 
the  work  of  two  weeks  before,  and  it  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  on  March  12  Commissioner  Beattie  issued  a  positive 


APPENDIX 


213 


order  to  his  superintendent  to  employ  enough  carts  to 
remove  the  sweepings  every  two  hours  in  the  hand  sec- 
tion, and  within  one  hour  from  the  time  the  machines 
passed  in  the  machine  section;  and  this  order  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  commissioner,  his  deputy,  and  the  su- 
perintendent passing  the  greater  part  of  the  next  two 
days  on  the  streets,  supervising  the  work. 

"This  experiment  clearly  established  certain  facts, 
viz. :  that  with  the  patrol  system,  supplemented  by  a  well- 
organized  carting  service,  the  streets  can  be  kept  per- 
fectly clean  at  all  times;  that  with  machines  the  streets 
can  be  kept  much  cleaner  than  they  have  ever  been  kept 
before,  provided  the  sweepings  are  promptly  removed 
by  an  efficient  carting  service;  that  there  are  difficulties 
connected  with  the  use  of  machines  in  this  city,  due  to 
narrow,  obstructed,  and  badly  lighted  streets  (the  work 
with  machines  must  necessarily  be  done  at  night)  and 
the  uneven  surface  of  the  pavements,  which  make  it  im- 
possible to  clean  the  streets  by  this  method  as  thoroughly 
as  by  hand;  and  finally,  that  in  cleaning  the  streets  by 
machine  there  is  no  provision  for  taking  up  the  manure 
dropped  during  the  day;  the  street  may  be  perfectly 
cleaned  at  7  A.  M.  and  yet  be  very  dirty  at  9  A.  M.  and 
throughout  the  rest  of  the  day  from  the  accumulation 
of  manure. 

'k  We  are  therefore  convinced  that  the  patrol  or  block 
system  of  cleaning  by  hand  is  the  best,  if  not  the  only, 
method  by  which  the  streets  can  '  be  thoroughly  cleaned 
and  kept  clean  at  all  times/  as  the  statute  requires." 


GARBAGE 


GENERAL  OBSERVATIONS 
BY  C.  HERSCHEL  KOYL 

The  subject  of  the  final  disposition  of  garbage  is  a 
municipal  question;  for  with  the  single  family  or  the 
small  community  all  table  and  kitchen  waste  is  valuable 
and  eagerly  sought  as  food  for  domestic  animals.  When 
fresh  and  wholesome,  this  is  its  proper  and  natural  des- 
tination. It  is  only  when,  in  larger  communities,  public 
health  requires  the  banishment  of  the  omnivorous  hog 
that  the  disposition  of  putrescible  waste  becomes  a 
question. 

The  early  history  of  the  subject,  in  all  but  seaport 
towns,  is  practically  the  same.  The  method  of  disposi- 
tion adopted  must  be  satisfactory  at  once  to  the  com- 
munity and  to  its  neighbors.  In  seaport  towns  it  has 
usually  been  cheapest  and  easiest  to  tow  and  dump  the 
mixed  wastes  so  far  from  shore  as  to  be  practically  un- 
objectionable. 

Inland  towns,  however,  have  commonly  endeavored  to 
sell  their  edible  waste,  even  if  not  very  fresh,  to  persons 
who  hauled  it  away  for  use  as  food  in  large  piggeries. 
Many,  too,  even  within  recent  years,  have  used  it  in  a 
partially  decomposed  condition  as  food  for  milch  cows. 
But  the  consumers  of  the  milk  and  the  consumers  of  the 
pork  have  gradually  risen  in  protest,  and  the  guardians 

214 


APPENDIX 


215 


of  health  have  urged  many  reasons  why  the  practice 
should  be  abolished.  The  revenue  derived  from  it  and 
the  difficulty  of  finding  a  better  method  have  been  seri- 
ous obstacles  to  change;  but  the  practice  has  generally 
given  way  to  the  compost  heap,  which,  in  turn,  has 
usually  died  an  early  death  from  the  vigorous  objections 
of  its  neighbors. 

A  mechanical  solution  of  the  question  then  appeared 
the  most  promising.  The  first  impulse  naturally  was  to 
destroy  an  article  which  had  given  so  much  trouble;  the 
second  impulse  was  to  save  a  substance  which  was  known 
to  be  valuable.  The  development  of  these  two  ideas 
has  led  to  the  invention  of  crematories  and  utilization 
methods. 

All  new  processes  are  liable  to  failure  from  inexperi- 
ence and  from  the  natural  timidity  of  capital.  Ear  y 
attempts  to  destroy  and  to  save  this  kind  of  city  was  e 
were  defective  in  both  cases,  because  no  one  quite  knew 
what  was  needed,  and  every  one  hesitated  to  invest 
money  which  might  be  lost.  The  history  of  the  past  few 
years  is  therefore  strewn  with  wrecks  of  laudable  at- 
tempts to  solve  the  problem. 

The  conditions  of  permanency  and  successful  opera- 
tion differ  so  much  in  different  cities  that  an  intimate 
and  detailed  knowledge  of  individual  cases  is  necessary 
to  an  intelligent  judgment  of  the  inherent  value  of  any 
particular  process.  In  some  places  the  relatively  dry 
character  of  the  wTaste  and  the  mildness  of  the  winter 
climate  have  permitted  the  easy  and  continued  operation 
of  crematories  which,  when  called  upon  to  burn  wetter 
material,  to  maintain  hotter  fires,  and  to  withstand  the 
rigors  of  a  Northern  winter,  have  not  sustained  their  rep- 
utation. In  other  places  the  location  of  a  crematory 
or  of  a  reduction  plant  has  been  so  unwisely  chosen  that 
slight  odors,  or  even  the  daily  sight  of  a  line  of  garbage- 
carts,  has  been  enough  to  cause  great  complaint.  Among 
the  early  reduction  plants  a  fruitful  source  of  trouble 
and  failure  was  the  tendency  of  enthusiasts  to  overesti- 
mate the  amount  and  value  of  grease  and  tankage  to  be 
recovered,  and  thus  to  enter  irvto  unprofitable  contracts, 


216 


APPENDIX 


which  both  disheartened  stockholders  and  prevented  im- 
provements suggested  by  experience.  In  many  places, 
too,  the  municipal  authorities  have  been  so  divided  in 
opinion  that  the  small  majority  by  which  a  system  has 
been  introduced  has  not  been  able  to  withstand  the  trifling 
criticisms  which  would  have  passed  unnoticed  had  the 
company  been  longer  in  operation  or  backed  by  a  stronger 
popular  desire  for  its  success. 

Only  careful  examination  by  experienced  judges,  and 
extended  over  a  reasonable  time,  can  give  any  accurate 
idea  of  the  accomplishment  or  possibilities  of  such  a 
process.  Many  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  have 
now  been  learned  by  experience,  and  have  been  briefly 
discussed  above.  They  are  primarily  hygienic,  secon- 
darily economic,  and  all  are  nearing  solution. 

In  the  case  of  the  smaller  cities  whose  outskirts  are 
easily  reached,  and  in  many  of  which  combustible  waste 
is  mixed  with  kitchen  refuse,  crematories  have  been  es- 
tablished and  are  in  use,  with  results  more  or  less  accep- 
table. The  later  installations,  with  their  improved 
methods,  are,  of  course,  better  than  earlier  ones. 

In  Wilmington,  Delaware,  the  Brown  crematory  has 
been  used;  in  New  Brighton,  Staten  Island,  Terre  Haute, 
Indiana,  and  Gainesville,  Texas,  the  Brownlee  furnace; 
in  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania,  the  Rider;  in  Camden,  New 
Jersey,  McKeesport,  Pennsylvania,  Atlanta,  Georgia,  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana,  and  Salt  Lake  City,  the  Dixon;  in 
Lowell,  Massachusetts,  Coney  Island,  New  York,  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  Savannah,  Georgia,  and  in  numerous 
places,  principally  in  the  South  and  West,  the  Engle;  in 
Atlantic  City,  New  Jersey,  Philadelphia,  Muncie,  Indiana, 
etc.,  the  Smith-Siemens;  in  Scranton,  Pennsylvania,  the 
Vivarttas.  Many  other  towns  have  purchased  and  oper- 
ated other  crematories,  with  varying  success. 

Among  the  larger  cities,  Buffalo,  New  York,  with  a 
population  of  about  300,000,  pays  e$35,000  per  year  to  the 
Merz  Company  to  receive  and  dispose  of  its  garbage  by 
a  reduction  system;  Detroit,  Michigan,  with  250,000 
population,  pays  annually  $63,000  for  collection  and  dis- 


APPENDIX 


217 


posal  by  the  same  process;  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  with 
250,000  people,  pays  $24,000  for  disposal  by  the  Merz 
Company;  and  in  St.  Louis  the  Merz  Company  receives 
and  reduces  all  garbage  and  offal  at  $1.80  per  ton. 

Cincinnati,  with  350,000  population,  and  payment  on  a 
sliding  scale  averaging  about  $22,000  per  year,  and  New 
Orleans,  250,000  population,  send  their  garbage  to  plants 
of  the  Simonin  utilization  system.  In  this  process  gar- 
bage is  spread  upon  crates  and,  within  closed  iron  cylin- 
ders, subjected  to  the  action  of  naphtha  and  steam  heat 
until  the  grease  and  water  are  extracted,  after  which  the 
dry  matter  may  be  culled  and  ground. 

In  Philadelphia,  where  "  slop  "  is  collected  and  disposed 
of  by  contract,  many  methods  have  been  in  successive  or 
contemporaneous  use.  At  present  all  the  "  slop  "  which 
is  treated  within  the  city  limits  goes  either  to  one  of  the 
two  Smith  crematories  or  to  the  large  reduction  plant  of 
the  Arnold  system. 

Chicago,  too,  has  tried  nearly  every  known  method,  and 
is  still  experimenting— just  now  with  crematories. 

Boston,  which  has  always  derived  a  revenue  from  the 
sale  of  "swill*  to  neighboring  feeders  and  towed  the 
balance  of  its  waste  to  sea,  made  a  contract  some  two 
years  ago  with  a  local  company  operating  the  Arnold 
process;  but  the  plant  was  closed  after  a  few  months' 
operation,  and  now  the  city  has  temporarily  returned  to 
its  ancient  method. 

Washington,  D.  C,  has  had  a  somewhat  similar  expe- 
rience, except  that  the  Arnold  plant  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
and,  owing  to  the  uncertain  condition  of  the  contract 
then  in  force,  it  was  not  rebuilt.  The  health  officer  of 
the  city  has  lately  made  an  extended  visit  to  plants  in 
operation  in  other  cities.  This  is  one  of  the  places  where 
something  must  be  done,  and  it  is  said  that  recent  con- 
tracts have  been  made  for  the  erection  of  two  crema- 
tories, one  of  which  is  already  completed. 

Pittsburg  operated  for  years  an  overworked  and  un- 
satisfactory crematory,  and  the  present  contractor  has 
lately  built  a  reduction  plant  in  which  it  is  proposed  to 


218 


APPENDIX 


manufacture  the  garbage  dry  matter  into  a  complete 
fertilizer.  The  method  in  use  is  that  of  the  Consolidated 
American  Reduction  Company. 

Cleveland,  hampered  by  poverty,  has  done  little  yet, 
but  hopes  to  put  a  reduction  plant  into  operation  in  the 
near  future. 

New  York  and  Brooklyn  are  pressed  by  necessity  to 
an  early  decision. 

C.  H.  K. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  GARBAGE  CONTRACT  IN  NEW  YORK 


BY  MACDONOUGH  CRAVEN 

The  following  extracts  from  a  paper  giving  a  short 
history  of  the  bids,  etc.,  in  relation  to  the  final  disposi- 
tion of  the  city's  wastes,  can  best  be  introduced  by  the 
letter  of  April  9,  1896,  which  was  supplied  to  the  leading 
daily  newspapers: 

April  9,  1896. 
DISPOSAL  OF  THE  CITY'S  WASTES 

After  the  contract  for  the  disposal  of  garbage  goes 
into  effect,  new  methods  will  be  adopted  for  the  treat- 
ment of  all  our  wastes.  Some  of  them  are  already  inau- 
gurated, and  all  should  be  in  full  use  before  the  end  of 
the  year. 

1.  Garbage  will  be  kept  separate,  in  such  vessels  as 
the  Board  of  Health  may  prescribe,  and  will  be  collected 
by  special  carts. 

2.  Ashes  and  dust  (free  from  paper  and  other  rubbish) 
will  be  kept  within  the  house,  or  in  the  back  yard,  in 
special  cans.  From  these  they  will  be  removed  in  tied 
bags  by  department  men,  who  will  stand  them  on  the 
edge  of  the  sidewalk. 

3.  Street  dirt  will  be  placed  in  a  bag  (carried  on  a 
light  truck)  as  fast  as  it  is  swept  up.    When  the  bag  is 


220 


APPENDIX 


filled  it  will  be  tied  and  stood  on  the  sidewalk.  This 
system  has  been  in  use  in  Madison  Avenue  since  last 
summer,  and  is  now  being  extended. 

The  ash-carts  will  move  slowly  along  the  streets,  with 
enough  men  attending  to  throw  the  bags  into  them  as 
they  pass.  Thus  the  shoveling  of  sweepings  and  the 
emptying  of  receptacles,  as  well  as  the  standing  of  re- 
ceptacles on  the  streets  and  the  collecting  of  sweepings 
into  piles,  with  their  attendant  dust,  litter,  and  nuisance, 
will  be  forever  done  away  with. 

4.  All  refuse  other  than  garbage,  ashes,  and  dust  will 
be  kept  within  the  house  until  called  for  by  the  depart- 
ment "  paper-carts,"  which  will  remove  everything  the 
householder  wants  to  get  rid  of,  from  an  envelop  to  a 
mattress  or  a  cooking-stove.  These  things  will  be  taken 
to  central  depots,  where  everything  of  salable  value  will 
be  separated,  and  all  else  will  be  cremated. 

When  this  system  is  in  complete  operation,  not  only 
will  the  streets  be  clean,  but  they  will  also  be  tidy. 
Blowing  papers  and  the  dust  nuisance  will  have  disap- 
peared. Furthermore,  the  $80,000  hitherto  received  by 
the  city  for  the  privilege  of  picking  bones,  bottles,  rags, 
etc.,  during  the  trimming  of  the  scows,  will  be  replaced 
by  many  times  that  amount  received  for  the  much  larger 
quantity  of  material  collected,  and  collected  in  much 
better  condition.  There  are  further  possibilities  as  to 
the  use  of  unsalable  paper  for  pasteboard,  the  develop- 
ment of  steam  for  power  by  the  burning  of  refuse,  the 
use  of  ashes  for  making  brick-  and  concrete-work;  but 
concerning  these  we  are  not  yet  in  a  position  to  make  any 
public  statement. 

The  obtaining  of  information  as  to  articles  of  possible 
value  which  are  now  practically  thrown  away,  and  which 
might  be  recovered  and  sold,  has  involved  an  expenditure 
on  the  part  of  the  city,  in  the  form  of  scow-trimming 
money  received  by  Herbert  Tate  since  June  17,  1895,  of 
$.17,225.  Of  this,  $0150  has  been  paid  as  compensation 
to  Herbert  Tate  and  his  assistants  for  the  installation 
and  management  of  the  investigation;  $480  for  rent  of 
the  lot  where  the  crematory  stands,  at  the  corner  of 


APPENDIX 


221 


Fifty-third  Street  and  Twelfth  Avenue;  $5800  for  the 
construction  of  the  crematory  and  appurtenances;  $1339 
for  the  operation  of  the  crematory.  There  stands  to  the 
credit  of  the  crematory  account  about  $1350  received  for 
paper,  bottles,  shoes,  etc.,  sold. 

The  remainder  of  the  sum  received  has  been  used  for 
the  employment  of  carts  and  trucks,  varying  in  number 
from  41  to  79,  and  averaging  54  per  day.  Believing 
always  that  the  experiment  was  to  last  but  a  few  months, 
collection  was  made  from  all  parts  of  the  city  below 
Fifty-ninth  Street,  and  irregularly  above  Fifty-ninth 
Street,  with  a  view  to  preventing  the  people  from  putting 
their  paper  and  rubbish  into  the  streets.  This  has  had 
a  good  effect— by  no  means  a  complete  effect.  The 
material  collected  in  the  fifth  district,  being  between 
Twenty-second  Street  and  Fifty-eighth  Street  and  from 
Sixth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River,  together  with  a  por- 
tion of  what  was  collected  above  Fifty-eighth  Street  was 
delivered  at  the  crematory,  foot  of  Fifty-third  Street,  and 
wasmade  the  subject  of  the  experiment  referred  to  above. 

There  has  been  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  some  persons 
as  to  my  authority  for  applying  the  scowT-trimming  money 
to  this  use.  The  case  was  presented  in  all  its  details  to 
the  counsel  to  the  corporation,  Mr.  Scott;  and  he  not 
only  said  that  I  had  the  right  to  use  the  money  in  this 
way,  but  that  he  thought  it  would  be  well  worth  while 
to  find  out  whether  or  not  there  was  a  possibility  of  get- 
ting a  greater  value  out  of  the  wastes  of  the  city  than  it 
was  then  receiving. 

The  experiment  would  have  been  concluded  last  autumn 
had  the  plan  been  carried  out  at  that  time  of  asking  pro- 
posals for  the  treatment  of  garbage.  By  request  of  the 
mayor,  this  plan  was  changed,  and,  on  terms  and  condi- 
tions approved  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment, an  advertisement  was  published  asking  for  proposals 
for  the  disposition  of  all  of  the  wastes  of  the  city.  The 
bids  under  this  proposal  were  opened  December  10, 1895, 
without  result. 

The  next  advertisement  asked  for  proposals  for  dispos- 
ing of  garbage  alone,  at  a  fixed  ^rice  per  ton.    This  was 


222 


APPENDIX 


dated  January  22,  1896;  the  bids  were  to  be  opened  Feb- 
ruary 4,  but  the  time  was  extended  to  February  17  for 
readvertising.    This  also  was  without  result. 

Again,  on  March  12,  1896,  we  advertised  for  proposals 
for  the  removal  of  garbage  alone,  at  a  per  annum  price, 
the  bids  to  be  received  up  to  March  26. 

March  17,  proposals  were  asked  for  the  disposition  of 
ashes,  sweepings,  garbage,  etc. ;  these  were  to  be  received 
March  30.  Both  sets  of  bids  were  opened  on  March  30, 
1896.    These  proposals  are  now  under  consideration. 

As  soon  as  the  decision  of  this  question  allows  us  to 
resume  the  even  tenor  of  our  way,  we  shall  make  ready 
to  close  up  our  experimental  work,  and  go  forward  with 
our  plans  for  handling  all  of  our  output  in  the  manner 
set  forth. 

A  false  start  was  made  in  April,  1895,  with  Walton  & 
Co.,  but,  after  they  had  used  $1667.90  of  the  scow-trim- 
ming money,  the  arrangement  was  found  not  to  be  satis- 
factory and  it  was  canceled. 

George  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  Commissioner. 

The  long  and  difficult  proceedings  through  which  the 
final  result  was  reached  are  fully  set  forth  in  a  paper 
published  by  the  department.  This  will  be  sent  to  those 
who  apply  for  it.  It  is  not  without  interest,  but  there 
is  no  room  for  its  details  in  these  pages. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Ap- 
portionment at  which  the  matter  was  discussed,  the 
mayor  offered  the  following: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportion- 
ment hereby  approves  the  report  of  the  commissioner  of 
street-cleaning,  dated  May  1,  1896,  stating  that  he  has 
rejected  all  bids  for  final  disposition,  except  that  of  the 
New  York  Sanitary  Utilization  Company,  and  the  said 
board  hereby  approves  of  the  contract  with  the  said  New 
York  Sanitary  Utilization  Company,  recommended  for  ac- 
ceptance by  said  commissioner  of  street-cleaning,  as  to 
its  terms  and  conditions,  including  the  price  or  compen- 
sation therein  provided  for." 

The  president  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  moved  as  a 


APPEXDIX 


223 


substitute  that  "this  board  declines  to  approve  of  the 
bid  of  the  New  York  Sanitary  Utilization  Company  as 
recommended  by  the  commissioner  of  street-cleaning." 

The  chairman  put  the  question  whether  the  board 
would  agree  to  said  substitute,  and  it  was  decided  in  the 
negative  by  the  following  vote:  Affirmative:  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Aldermen— 1.  Negative:  the  mayor, 
controller,  president  of  the  Department  of  Taxes  and 
Assessments,  and  counsel  to  the  corporation— 4. 

The  question  recurring  on  the  original  resolution  as 
offered  by  the  mayor,  it  was  adopted  by  the  following 
vote:  Affirmative:  the  mayor,  controller,  president  of 
the  Department  of  Taxes  and  Assessments,  and  counsel 
to  the  corporation— 4.  Negative:  the  president  of  the 
Board  of  Aldermen—1. 

On  June  6,  1896,  the  contract  was  entered  into  with 
the  New  York  Sanitary  Utilization  Company,  and  prepa- 
rations were  immediately  made  for  beginning  the  work. 

M.  C. 

Note.— This  contract  was  for  five  years.  The  city  pays  an 
annual  compensation  of  $89,990.  It  delivers  the  garbage  on 
the  contractors'  vessels,  which  take  it  to  Barren  Island,  at  the 
mouth  of  Jamaica  Bay,  where  it  is  cooked  for  ten  hours  by  steam 
(under  a  pressure  of  seventy  pounds).  It  is  then  pressed,  the 
grease  is  taken  from  the  liquid  and  made  ready  for  market,  and 
the  solid  matters  are  dried  and  prepared  for  use  as  manure. 

The  arrangement  is  advantageous  to  the  city  and  profitable 
to  the  company. 


INDEX 


Affidavits  concerning  conditions 

in  1893,  7. 
Andrews,  William  S.f  4,  6,  9,  17. 
Annual  death-rate,  14. 
Appointments  made  for  political 

reasons,  6. 
Arbitration  of  differences  between 

officials  and  employees,  25. 
Area  cleaned  in  Birmingham,  159. 
in  Brussels,  165. 
in  Budapest,  125. 
in  New  York,  42. 
in  Paris,  137. 
in  Turin,  173. 
in  Vienna,  121. 
Ashes,  formerly  allowed  to  accu- 
mulate, 8, 13. 
cans  and  bags  for,  45,  90. 
collection  of,  44,  161. 
final  disposition  of,  68,  153,  162. 
used  for  filling,  68,  162. 
Assessment  of  employees,  15. 
Assistant  superintendent,  duties 
of,  83,  86. 

Bag-carriers,  40,  90. 

method  of  use,  41. 
Barnev  dumping-boats,  68,  73,  90. 
Beattie,  Hans  S.,  4,  6. 
Benefit  funds  for  street-cleaners, 
133,  134,  138,  171. 

225 


Berlin,  care  of  disabled  men,  133. 
hours  of  labor,  132. 
household  wastes,  135. 
machine-sweeping  in,  130. 
pavements  of,  131. 
sanding  of  streets,  131. 
size  of  force  and  rate  of  wages, 

130,  131. 
street-cleaners  uniformed,  129. 
Birmingham,  an  example  of  muni- 
cipal economy,  158. 
cremation  of  garbage,  162. 
force  employed  and  wages,  159. 
manufacture  of  fertilizers,  161, 
162. 

removal  of  night-soil,  160. 
removal  of  other  refuse,  161. 
Block  system,  5. 

Board  of  Conference,  cases  con- 
sidered by,  32. 
operations  of,  25. 
Board  of  Health,  1,  13. 
Brennan,  Thomas  S.,  4,  6. 
Brussels,    benefit    fund    of  the 
Street-Cleaning  Department, 
171. 

collection  of  house  wastes,  168. 
cost  of  street-cleaning,  165. 
cremation  of  refuse,  170. 
force  emploved  and  wages,  165. 
-plant,  167 


226 


INDEX 


population  and  area,  164. 
sale  of  sweepings,  169. 
snow  removal,  168. 
street-sprinkling,  168. 
work  of  the  department,  165. 
Budapest,  cab-stands  in,  124. 
cost  of  cleaning  and  snow  re- 
moval, 125. 
final  disposition  of  refuse,  125. 
the  city  and  its  streets,  124. 

Cab-stands  in  Budapest,  124. 
Carting  of  refuse  in  New  York,  43. 

cost  of  and  force  engaged  in,  43. 
Chief  clerk,  25,  86,  87. 
Children  organized  as  aids  of  the 

department,  177. 
Children's  badges  and  certificates, 

180. 

influence  over  parents  and  neigh- 
bors, 185. 
pledges,  183. 

street-cleaning  songs,  181. 

weekly  reports,  183. 
Cinderella,  the,  71. 
City  Club,  7. 

Clerical  force  in  New  York,  86, 
87. 

Coleman,  James  S.,  first  eommis- 

s;oner,  1,  5. 
Collection  of  ashes,  44. 
of  garbage,  43. 

of  mixed  refuse,  122,  135,  141, 

152,  161. 
of  paper  and  rubbish,  45. 
Cologne,  a  clean  city,  172. 
Committee  of  Forty-one,  all  com- 
plaints must  be  considered  by, 
34. 

cases  brought  before  it,  33. 
influence  of  delegates  over  con- 
duct of  foremen,  35. 
operations  of,  25. 
Condition  of  streets  from  1892  to 

1895,  6,  7,  13. 
Contnu  t-work,  1,  83,  93,  94,  100, 

166,  171,  174. 
Cost  of  cleaning  and  removal  of 
refuse  in  New  York,  4, 16, 129. 


of  delivering  ashes  and  sweep- 
ings at  Riker's  Island,  73. 

of  disposition  of  refuse,  69,  73, 
129,  141. 

of  garbage  removal  in  Paris, 
141,  143. 

of  salt  for  melting  snow  in  Paris, 
147. 

of  snow  removal,  92,  95,  96, 

102,  108,  121,  173. 
of  street-cleaning  in  Berlin,  129, 

130. 

of  street-cleaning  in  Birming- 
ham, 158. 

of  street-cleaning  in  Brussels, 
165,  166. 

of  street-cleaning  in  Budapest, 
125. 

of  street-cleaning  in  New  York, 
165. 

of  street-cleaning  in  Faris,  137. 
of  street-cleaning  in  Turin,  173. 
of  street-cleaning  in  Vienna,  121. 
of  street-sprinkling  in  Paris, 
138. 

Craven,  Macdonough,  report  on 
garbage  treatment,  48. 

Cremation  of  refuse,  78,  126,  135, 
144,  153,  155, 162,  170. 

Cushing,  Major  H.  C,  report  on 
stock  and  plant,  81. 

Death-rate  from  1882  to  1894, 14. 
Deck-scows,  69,  73. 
Delehanty  boats,  71,  72,  90. 
Department    of  Street-Cleaning 

created,  1. 
Discipline,  methods  of,  21,  82,  84, 

85. 

Diseases  due  to  dust  and  damp- 
ness, 14. 

Distribution  of  sweepers,  38,  39. 

District  superintendents,  84,  86. 

Districts,  number  of,  86. 

Division  of  area  of  New  York, 
39. 

Drivers,  duties  of,  84,  88. 

regulars  and  extras,  85,  88. 
Dumps  for  refuse,  44,  72,  90. 


INDEX 


227 


Early  history  of  New  York  depart- 
ment, 1. 

Final  disposition  in  Berlin,  135. 

in  Brussels,  169. 

in  Budapest,  125,  175. 

in  London,  153,  155. 

in  Paris,  141. 

in  Vienna,  122. 

of  ashes  and  sweepings,  68. 

of  garbage,  47. 

of  paper  and  rubbish,  74. 

superintendent  of,  86. 
Fines,  system  of,  22,  41. 
Force  employed  in  Berlin,  130. 

in  Birmingham,  159. 

in  Brussels,  165. 

in  Budapest,  124. 

in  London,  151. 

in  New  York,  January  15, 1895, 
11. 

in  New  York,  July  1,  1897,  38, 
87. 

in  Paris,  137. 
in  Turin,  173. 
in  Vienna,  120. 
Foremen  and  assistants,  39,  85, 
86. 

Garbage,  bids  for  disposal  of,  48. 
cans  and  carts,  60. 
collection  in  Paris,  141. 
constituents  of,  50,  67. 
cremation  in  Birmingham,  162. 
disinfection  of,  63. 
driers  and  digesters,  63. 
dumps,  44. 

final  disposition  of,  47. 

fouling  of  shores  by,  47. 

gases  and  vapors  from  reduction- 
works,  61>  64. 

grease  extraction,  54,  65. 

importance  of  prompt  collec- 
tion, 49,  58,  60,  63. 

importance  of  separate  storage, 
52,  58. 

investigation  of  various  pro- 
cesses, 49. 
mills  and  screens,  65. 


reduction-works  need  not  be  of- 
fensive, 55,  56. 
results  of  tests,  53,  56. 
thrown  in  the  streets,  8,  9,  13. 
value  of,  55,  67,  76. 
variations  in  quality  and  quan- 
tity, 56,  67. 
General  superintendent,  18,  86. 
Genoa,  cleaned  by  contract,  174. 
police  of,  174. 
wages  of  cleaners,  174. 
Grant,  Mayor,  report  of  committee 
appointed  by,  4. 

Hand-sweeping  better  than  ma- 
chine-sweeping, 38. 

Horses  of  the  New  York  depart- 
ment, 81,  90. 
shod  by  contract,  83. 
under  supervision  of  veterinary 
surgeons,  83. 

Hours  of  labor,  38,  43,  132,  137, 
151,  159,  167. 

Hydraulic  carrier  for  ashes  and 
sweepings,  70. 

Implements  used  by  sweepers,  40, 
120,  139,  147,  149,  151,  173, 
175. 

Improvements   in    methods  sug- 
gested by  employees,  31. 
Income   from  picking-yards,  79, 
122,  128,  155. 
from  sale  of  fertilizers,  126, 136, 

163,  166,  169. 
from  scow-trimming,  74. 
Incumbrance-yards,  86,  90. 
Inspectors,  86. 

Juvenile  Street-Cleaning  Leagues, 
177. 

badges  and  certificates  of,  180. 
facilitate  control  of  foreign  pop- 
ulation, 185. 
pledges  of  members,  183. 
songs  of,  181. 

system  introduced  in  schools, 
179. 

weekly  reports  of,  183. 


228 


INDEX 


Kleinpest,  125,  128. 

Length  of  paved  streets  in  New 
York,  38. 

of  streets  kept  clean,  42. 
London,  amount  of  refuse,  154. 

disposition  of  refuse,  153,  155. 

experience    with  destructors, 
153,  155. 

made  up  of  independent  com- 
munities, 150. 

Paddington  refuse-disposal 
works,  156. 

street-cleaning  force,  151. 

the  "City"  proper,  150. 

washing  of  streets,  151, 152. 
Loomis,  Horace,  2. 

Machine-sweeping,  abandoned,  38. 

in  Berlin,  130. 

in  Brussels,  167. 

in  London,  157. 

in  Paris,  138,  139,  146. 

in  Vienna,  119. 

its  disadvantages,  37. 
Master  mechanic,  86. 
Mechanics,  86. 

Methods  of  using  sweepers'  im- 
plements, 41. 

Munio1"1.,  cleaned  mainly  by  con- 
tract, 171. 
women  sweepers  in,  171. 

Paddington  refuse-disposal  works, 
156. 

Paper  and  rubbish  service,  45, 
76. 

Parades,  annual,  20,  83. 
Paris,  an  a  cleaned,  137. 

cleaning  asphalt  in,  139. 

cost  of  street-cleaning  in,  137. 

final  disposition  of  wastes,  143. 

machine-sweeping  in,  138,  147, 
149. 

rag-pickers  of,  143. 

size  of  street-cleaning  force  and 

rate  of  wages,  137. 
snow  removal  in,  144. 
street-cleaning  in,  136. 


street-sprinkling  in,  138. 
washing  streets  of,  139. 
Paved  streets  in  New  York,  38. 
Pavements  in  Berlin,  131. 
in  Budapest,  124. 
in  New  York,  110. 
in  Paris,  136. 
in  Vienna,  117. 
Picking-yards,  46,  76,  77,  79,  122, 

125,  154,  156. 
Plant  of  the  New  York  depart- 
ment on  January  15, 1895, 11, 
16. 

on  July  1,  1897,  81,  89. 
Pocket-dumps,  72,  73. 
Politics  as  a  factor  in  early  work, 

6,  10,  12,  15. 
Public  indifference,  2,  175. 

Refuse  of  Berlin,  135. 
of  Birmingham,  161. 
of  Brussels,  168. 
of  Budapest,  125. 
of  London,  152. 
of  Paris,  142. 
of  Vienna,  122. 
Reorganization  of  the  New  York 

department,  19. 
Repair-shops,  83,  86. 
Riker's  Island,  ashes  and  sweep- 
ings used  for  filling,  69. 
cost  of  delivering  ashes  and 

sweepings  at,  73. 
value  of  reclaimed  land,  73. 
Robbins,  William,  18. 
Rubbish,  final  disposition  of,  7  1. 
78. 

removal  of,  45,  75. 
Rules  governing  employees,  21. 

Salt  in  snow  removal,  147,  149. 
169. 

Sanding  of  streets,  131,  139,  140. 

158,  159. 
Schools,  teaching  civic  cleanliness, 

179. 

Scow-trimming,  74,  167. 
Section  foremen,  39,  86. 
Section  stations,  86,  90. 


INDEX 


229 


Sections,  number  of,  38,  86. 

number  of  employees  in,  39. 
Separation  of  refuse  before  collec- 
tion, 45. 
Sidewalks  in  London,  152. 

in  Vienna,  119. 
Snowfall,  official  records  of,  94,  97. 
Snow-inspector,  87,  91. 
Snow-melting  machines,  102,  108. 
Snow-plows  and  ice-scrapers,  106. 
Snow  removal,  agreements  with 
street-railways,  100, 145, 148. 

collection  and  control  of  extra 
men,  104. 

contracts  for,  93,  94,  100. 

cost  of,  92,  95,  96,  102,  108. 

experiments  in  piling,  107. 

importance  of,  91. 

in  Brussels,  168. 

in  Paris,  144. 

in  Turin,  173. 

in  Vienna,  121. 

laws  regulating  employment  of 

extra  men,  101,  103. 
method  of  keeping  tally,  105. 
mileage  of  streets  cleared,  92, 

93,  98,  102,  106. 
record  of  loads,  95,  96,  98,  102. 
under  former  administrations, 
14,  92,  96. 
Stable  force,  84,  86. 
Stable  management,  81. 
Stables,  number  of,  83,  90. 
Steam-pit  for  snow-melting,  102. 
Stidham,  H.  L.,  report  on  snow 

removal,  91. 
Stock  of  the  New  York  depart- 
ment, 81. 
Street-cleaning,  children's  clubs, 
177. 

songs  of  Juvenile  Leagues,  181. 

in  Berlin,  128. 

in  Birmingham,  158. 

in  Brussels,  164. 

in  Budapest,  124. 

in  Cologne,  172. 

in  Genoa,  174. 

in  London,  150. 

in  Munich,  171. 


in  Paris,  136. 

in  Turin,  172. 

in  Vienna,  117. 
Street-railways,  110. 

condition  of  tracks,  110. 

obligations  of,  1,  145,  148. 

various  forms  of  rails,  111,  118. 
Street-sprinkling,  properly  a  muni- 
cipal function,  176. 

in  Brussels,  168. 

in  Paris,  138. 

in  Vienna,  123,  175. 

New  York  method  unique,  175. 

required  in  dry  weather,  41. 
Streets,cleaned  dailv  or  of  tener,42. 

length  of,  in  New  York,  38. 

used  for  storing  trucks,  2,  8,  9, 
13. 

Superintendent  of  final  disposition, 
86. 

Superintendent  of  stables,  83. 
Superintendents,  general  and  as- 
sistant, 18,  26,  83. 
Sweepers,  in  gangs,  40,  130,  137, 
167. 
number  of,  88. 
regulars  and  extras,  88. 
Sweepers'  tools,  40,  120,  139,  147, 
149,  151,  173,  175. 
uniforms,  15,  16,  20,  39,  129, 
134,  172. 
Sweeping  bv  machine  abandoned, 
38. 

Sweeping  in  New  York,  cost  of, 
and  force  engaged  in,  37. 
frequency  of,  42. 
made  difficult  bv  street-railroad 
tracks,  113,  116. 
Sweepings  of  New  York,  final  dis- 
position of,  68. 

Tammanv  officials  and  employees, 
18. 

Trucks  stored  on  streets,  2, 8,  9, 13. 
Turin,  cost  of  cleaning,  173. 

enforcement  of  laws  against 
littering  streets,  174. 

force  employed  and  wages,  173. 

street-cleaners  uniformed,  172. 


230 


IXDEX 


Uniforms,  cost  of,  39. 
in  Berlin,  129,  135. 
in  Munich,  172. 
in  Turin,  172. 
of  drivers,  85. 

of  employees  of  the  New  York 
department,  15, 16,  20,  39,  85. 

of  foremen  and  assistant  fore- 
men, 39. 

of  sweepers,  39. 
Vehicles  stored  in  streets,  2,  8,  9, 
13. 

Veterinary  surgeons,  83. 


Vienna,  cost  of  sweeping  in,  121. 
hano1 -sweeping  in,  120. 
machine-sweeping  in,  119,  123. 
street-sprinkling  in,  123. 
streets  and  sidewalks  of,  118, 
119,  121. 


Wages,  rates  of,  101,  131,  159, 

165,  173,  174. 
Washing  of  streets,  125,  139, 151. 

152. 

Women  sweepers,  137,  172. 


) 


i 


